


Anything of Nothing

by bjfic_archivist



Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: Canon, No Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-07-28
Updated: 2004-03-20
Packaged: 2018-12-27 04:47:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 60,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12073815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bjfic_archivist/pseuds/bjfic_archivist
Summary: Some things are dreams. Some are memories. The hard part is figuring out which is which.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Note from IrishCaelan, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [The Brian/Justin Fanfiction Archive](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Brian_Justin_Fanfiction_Archive). To preserve the archive, I began importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in September 2017. I posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [The Brian/Justin Fanfiction Archive collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/bjfic/profile).

His body ached in a marvelously delicious way.

“That’s um... well it’s.... Justin, what is it?”

Justin rolled his eyes and shot Daphne a mock glare. “It’s Brian.”

Daphne cocked her head to the side, staring at the picture from a different angle. “That’s Brian? What does Brian think of this?”

“Brian doesn’t know yet. He’s been in New York all week on business and hasn’t seen it,” Justin informed her, using his thumb to smear some paint in the top right corner of the canvas. “Is it really that bad?”

“It’s not bad. Just different. I didn’t know you did this impressionistic stuff.”

Scrunching his nose up to avoid sneezing, Justin shook his head. “I don’t. This is just.... It’s how I remember it. I was kinda half asleep at the time so everything looked really fuzzy. Almost like a big blob. A Brian-shaped one, anyway.”

“Oh I’m sure he’ll love that,” Daphne giggled, absently playing with the brushes he wasn’t using. “He’ll probably freak and run for the treadmill if you call him a blob.”

Justin gave Daphne a wide grin. “I’m not suicidal.... So what do you think of it?”

“I don’t know what to think,” Daphne said honestly, something for which Justin was incredibly grateful. “It’s very beautiful, though. I love how it gets hazy at the edge... Hazier. It kinda all siphons away leaving a very muddled Brian as the focus. At least I think that’s Brian in the middle. Is that Brian?”

“I’ll turn you into an art lover yet,” Justin teased, rubbing at his cheek with the back of his left hand. “So do you think it’s good enough to submit?”

“Definitely,” Daphne said without hesitation. “I’d have to hurt you if you didn’t.”

Staring intently at the canvas before him, Justin called upon the dream that had inspired this picture. As with the picture, the dream itself was equally hazy as he’d been on a great deal of medication at the time. But this image had imprinted itself in his mind and had not been dislodged like so many others from that same time. Justin could still remember the desperation he’d felt, the longing to reach out and touch the face that was hovering near him, a little off center.

Dipping his right thumb into the muddy brown paint, Justin added a few lines to the area around Brian’s eyes, giving the orbs more detail while still maintaining their undefined quality. It went against Justin’s nature to create something that wasn’t a definable image, but he was pleased with how it had turned out.

Of course, the real test would be when he showed it to Brian.

He knew how critical Brian was of seeing himself in Justin’s work, especially when other people were going to view it. But that wouldn’t be for another few weeks so Justin didn’t bother worrying about it. Besides, he was pretty sure that Brian would approve of it. After all, it wasn’t as though it was a clear portrait of the older man. Justin wouldn’t be surprised if Brian didn’t even recognize himself in the picture.

“So are you coming or not, Justin?”

After checking over his painting a final time, Justin nodded his head. “Yeah, just let me clean up a bit.”

“Well could you hurry up, winter break started two hours ago. We should already be far away from any educational building for the next month,” Daphne prodded.

Justin glanced at her over his shoulder, arching an eyebrow. “And what do you have planned for this oh so sacred month of no school?”

Daphne shrugged her shoulders as she picked up some of paint brushes Justin had used. “Nothing really. Just staying at home and catching up on some much needed sleep. Something which I think you’ll get even less of once Brian gets his hands on you.”

“And just what is that supposed to mean?” Justin demanded amidst a bark of laughter.

“That you are Brian Kinney’s willing fuck toy,” Daphne informed her friend.

Justin could feel his cheeks heat up at the validity of Daphne’s statement. There really was no point in denying what she had said because it was perfectly true. Then again, the same could be said for Brian even though the other man would never admit to it. Not even if his life depended on it.

“Just because we’re going away doesn’t mean that we’re going to be fucking the whole time,” Justin said in his defense.

“But Brian invited you to New York when he’s on a business trip. He’s up to something.”

Justin rolled his eyes and gave Daphne a withering look. “This is Brian Kinney we’re talking about.... It’s not some romantic gesture.”

“You know, you’re not as much fun as you used to be. You’re becoming too domestic,” Daphne taunted, splashing some water at him.

Justin bumped her with his shoulder and continued washing the pallet and brushes. He cleaned the instruments methodically, knowing that it would be several weeks before he returned to the studio. With exams finishing up next week, the school would be closed until after the new year which meant that Justin wouldn’t be doing any painting for a while. He knew better than to even ask Brian about painting in the loft, but he still had all sorts of other mediums to create in.

“You don’t believe that Brian really thinks of me as his own personal sex toy, do you?” Justin asked, placing the paint brushes into a glass jar. He wiped his hands off with an old rag and turned around to face Daphne.

“You’re not serious, are you?” Daphne demanded, staring at Justin in disbelief.

Justin ducked his head down, leaning against the sink. “It’s stupid, I know, but....”

Daphne shook her head. “No ‘but’, Justin. Brian loves you. Yeah, he has a truck load of issues that won’t let him say the words, but you’ve just got to see the look on his face whenever he looks at you and anyone can tell. It’s in his eyes. It’s been there every night since the prom.... Now quit brooding and grab your painting so we can go.”

At her words, Justin could feel his lips turning up in a half smile. He had heard those same words before from various people and was starting to actually believe that they could be true. But Justin still wanted to hear Brian say them or make some type of declaration to prove that he wasn’t just a convenient fuck. It was a fruitless wish, however, because he knew that Brian would never admit his feelings out loud. He had a better chance of Mikey becoming the mayor of Pittsburgh.

“We’d better get going. I still have to finish packing,” Justin said as he covered the painting up with a white, cotton cloth.

Daphne arched a curious eyebrow. “Does this mean that you’re actually going to be wearing clothes on this trip?”

“Fuck you!” Justin cried, barely able to keep his own laughter in check. “Brian and I do more than just fuck.... It just happens to be the thing we do best.”

“Thought so,” Daphne giggled, picking up Justin’s portfolio so that he could deal with the painting. Suddenly her joyful expression dropped and she furrowed her brows. “You know, as much as I love you, Justin, it’s really not fair that you get to go home every night to this completely gorgeous guy while I can’t even remember the last time I even went on a date.”

“Don’t worry, Daph, the right guy will come along,” Justin assured her, flashing her a brilliant smile. A smile which quickly became a smug one. “Unless, of course, you’ve decided that you like women better. Then I’m sure that Lindz and Mel could introduce you to some of their friends. Or you can go see that Russian dyke that was checking you out when we went to get that new ring for my nipple.”

Daphne’s jaw dropped and she slapped him upside the head. “That’s not very nice, Justin Taylor. You know damn well that I like my men just as much as you do.”

“Just checking,” Justin smirked, waiting for Daphne to open the door to the building so that they could exit. Then he became serious once again. “Look, if you really want a guy, be daring. When you see a guy you want, go up and talk to him. Ask him out for coffee or dance with him if you’re at a bar. Just have fun and maybe you’ll end up with your very own Brian Kinney.”

“A straight one,” Daphne chimed in as she pulled her car keys out of her pocket.

Justin pretended to look disgusted at the very thought. “Who’d want one of those?”

“All of us straight women who feel like plucking your eyes out whenever we see you and Brian kissing,” Daphne informed him with all seriousness. “It’s really not fair.”

“I think it is.”

Daphne smirked. “You would. You’re the one who gets to go home with him every night.”

“That I do,” Justin said with a wide grin as he carefully set the painting in the back seat of his friend’s car.

“You know what I don’t get,” Daphne continued as Justin climbed into the passenger side. “How you managed to find the love of your life on your first try. You two have this whole Romeo and Juliet thing going on.... Except in your case Juliet woke up before Romeo could off himself.”

Glancing out the window at the passing buildings, Justin tried his best to look indifferent. “It’s definitely not that dramatic.”

“Hello! You almost died right in front him!”

“And now I’m all better,” Justin said shortly. “Most of the time. So what happened with you and Mark?”

Daphne let him change the subject and the two continued to talk about unimportant things the rest of the way back to the loft. It wasn’t that Justin didn’t want to talk about what had happened in the parking garage-- at times he was almost desperate to talk to someone about it. He just wanted the person that he talked to about it to be Brian. But Brian wouldn’t talk about the bashing.

“Do you need me to come back later and drive you to the airport?” Daphne asked as she put the car in park across the street from the loft.

Justin leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. “No need. My mom and I are going out to dinner before I leave. She’s going to drop me off at the airport.”

“Well have fun in New York, Justin. Bring me back a present,” Daphne ordered, giving him a quick hug.

Climbing out of the car, Justin grabbed his bag and painting out of the backseat. “So I’ll see you in a week, Daph. Try not to sleep too much.”

“You’re a real comedian, Justin!” Daphne called as she pulled away from the sidewalk and started back down the street.

Justin watched her go, waiting until she had disappeared around the corner before he headed across the street and into the building. It still amazed him that this was his home. After Brian had been robbed because he had failed to set the alarm, Justin had been convinced that he would never again be a part of the ad exec’s life. Yet here they were, a year later, and he and Brian were once again living together. Only this time he actually meant something to Brian. He was no longer the trick who had hung around for more than one night. Justin now had an established place in the close knit group of friends that had become his family over the past fifteen months.

“.... Justin, are you there? Pick up the phone if you are.... Justin?”

Brian’s voice speaking over the answering machine was the first thing Justin heard when he entered the loft.

“Justin.... All right, since you’re not there--”

“I’m here! I’m here!” Justin cried, picking up the phone. He took a deep breath. “I’m here.”

“No shit, Sherlock,” Brian chuckled. “What took you so long? I was beginning to think you didn’t want to talk to me.”

Justin carefully placed the painting down on the counter before answering. “Daphne just dropped me off. I had some stuff to finish up at the school before I leave. So how is everything in New York?”

“Dull and boring,” was Brian’s immediate response. “So are you still coming up tonight?”

Justin nodded his head even though he knew that Brian couldn’t see it. “Yeah. My flight leaves at nine. You worried I won’t come?”

“Should I be?”

Justin paused, pretending to consider his options. “Let’s see, a week long vacation with you, all expenses paid--”

“By me.”

“--by you. A chance to take in New York’s clubs. The shopping, the plays,” Justin finished with a grin.

Even thousands of miles away, Justin could see the grimace on Brian’s face.

“Plays? What plays?”

“I was thinking about those box seats to The Producers that you have,” Justin said, laughing at the low growl he could hear over the phone. “You were hoping I wouldn’t find out about those, weren’t you?”

“How the fuck did you find out?” Brian grumbled.

“Cynthia told me,” Justin revealed, still chuckling quietly. “She wanted to make sure that the tickets got used and she knew that you wouldn’t go willingly.”

“I’m gonna kill her.”

“Oh quit being such a baby,” Justin chided, his smile growing knowing the arched eyebrow his comment would cause. “So is there a particular reason you called or were you just worried that I’d ditch you?”

Almost immediately, the anger disappeared from Brian’s voice. “Yeah, since you probably haven’t packed yet-- don’t even think about denying it, I know you --I need you to pack your tux.”

Justin was instantly caught off guard. The smile faded from his face and he slumped against the counter. “But, Brian, my tux is.... It’s.... The last time I wore it....”

***... who’s taking you home and in whose arms you’re gonna be. So darlin’ save...

“JUSTIN!”

... me.***

“Justin, listen to me,” Brian said, yanking Justin back into reality. “The tux is gone. I had that tux torched. Okay? This one is completely new. Completely different. It’s hanging up in my closet. Got it? Justin, do you hear me?”

Still trembling slightly, Justin took several deep breaths and nodded his head. “Yeah, I hear you.”

“Good. Now listen. You don’t have anything to worry about. It’s just some stuffy dinner party and knowing you, you’ll have them all charmed the instant you enter the room,” Brian assured him, concern evident in his voice.

“You just want to show me off,” Justin said lightly, swallowing the fear he could still feel rumbling in his stomach.

When he spoke, Justin could hear the smile in Brian’s voice. “And the problem with that being?”

“I’ll see you tonight, Brian,” Justin told him, already feeling better about the situation. “You’d better be there to pick me up when my flight gets in.”

“You worry too much, Sunshine. Now go pack. And you’d better bring those clothes that I bought you. I don’t want you wandering New York in jeans and ratty old jerseys,” Brian ordered.

Justin couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “Yes, Mr. Label Queen.”

“Goodbye, Justin.”

“Bye, Brian. See you tonight.”

After hanging up the phone, Justin walked back over to the counter where his painting was laying. He stared down at the hazy image, reminding himself that Brian wouldn’t let anything happen to him.


	2. Anything of Nothing

As soon as the words left his mouth, Brian had regretted them. There had been no need for Justin to bring a tux to New York. He could just as easily ordered one for the teen from the men’s boutique down the street from his hotel. Instead he had triggered a horrible memory for Justin and wasn’t there to help him through it. He had been completely helpless, only able to talk to Justin on the phone.

“Brilliant, Kinney. Fucking brilliant,” Brian mumbled, slumping down in his chair. He allowed his head loll against the back of the chair and let out a loud breath.

While Justin had sounded all right by the time he hung up the phone, Brian wouldn’t be sure until he saw Justin for himself. He wouldn’t put it past the younger man to hide his emotions. Justin had done it often enough in the past when he thought it was what Brian wanted.

Thankfully, it would only be a few hours until Justin arrived. Then he would be able to see for himself whether Justin was really all right. He knew that Justin would be fine in a matter of minutes. The young artist was the most resilient person that he knew. No matter how often Justin got knocked down, he was always back up and fighting in no time. It was something that Brian admired about the younger man.

At the same time he was furious with himself for allowing Justin in. Brian had always prided himself on his ability to keep people out. Michael had gotten the closest, but even he hadn’t broken past any of the finely crafted barriers he had built around himself. Justin, on the other hand, had completely blown his barriers to smithereens. Truth be told, Justin hadn’t even paid any attention to them. He had simply latched on like an obnoxious parasite and refused to let go.

What annoyed him even more was the fact that he didn’t even want Justin to go away any longer. He wasn’t supposed to want Justin there, but he did.

If he was truly honest with himself, he was in love with Justin.

Everyone assumed that he had realized it the night Justin had been attacked. That was only partially true. Even after the events of that terrible night, Brian still hadn’t been able to admit, even to himself, that he loved Justin. There had been no room for such emotions at the time. All he had been aware of was the incredible guilt that he felt and so much fear. Fear that had nearly drowned him. 

Love had been the last thing on his mind. All that he had wanted was for Justin to wake up and flash that same brilliant smile that he had in the parking garage before it had all started.

After learning that Justin would recover, the fear had been extinguished. The guilt, however, had only increased. Especially after learning about Justin’s impairment. It had been his fault, after all. If he had not attended the prom, that Hobbs bastard would never have gone after Justin. He had unconsciously taken to wearing the silk scarf Justin had been wearing when it happened. Day in and day out for well over a month he had worn the blood-stained scarf under his clothing as a constant reminder. He wouldn’t let himself forget what he had let happen.

It wasn’t until the night of Gus’ first birthday that Brian had been able to admit to himself that he loved Justin. That night, as he had held Justin so tenderly in his arms, he had found himself overwhelmed by so many conflicting emotions. It was only afterwards, as Justin turned to him and brushed his nose against Brian’s, that he finally admitted to himself that he loved Justin. For the rest of the night, until he fell asleep, Brian had held Justin in his arms, tracing lazy patterns over the younger man’s skin with their joined hands.

However, he had yet to utter those words to Justin. No matter how many times he tried, Brian couldn’t make himself admit his feelings to the younger man. Countless times he had opened his mouth to say them, yet the words would never come.

Brian knew that Justin was aware of his feelings just as Justin knew that Brian was doing his best to say those three words that he so wanted to hear. It was a lot harder than Brian had ever thought it would be, though. It was also frustrating beyond belief. Brian hated that he couldn’t say those words. He knew how much it meant to Justin, yet he still couldn’t say them. He was Brian Kinney, for fuck’s sake, it shouldn’t be so hard.

With a loud groan, Brian forced himself out of the chair. There was no way that he was going to spend the next four hours brooding. It was something Justin, with all his teenage angst, would do. Brian was no teenager. He was a grown man with responsibilities. Which was why he was spending two weeks in New York. Two long, boring, stress-filled weeks in New York.

“One boring week,” Brian corrected himself, doing nothing to stop the slight smile playing on his lips. 

It had taken a lot of fast talking for Brian to convince Jen and Deb to let Justin spend the first week of his winter break in New York. He had practically had to sign a blood oath that he wouldn’t let anything happen to the younger man before he had been allowed to buy the plane ticket.

The only problem with this situation was that he still had to work during the day. Even worse were the constant early mornings which meant that he and Justin couldn’t laze away in the massive king size bed and jacuzzi his suite included. Brian paused momentarily, mid step, as he realized that they would be able to do just that for the two weekends that Justin would be in New York.

Already plotting what he was going to do those four glorious mornings, Brian made a quick call to room service to order his dinner. He knew that he could have gone out eat seeing as how he would eventually have to make his way to the airport to get Justin, but Brian felt like lounging around for a while. It would be his last chance to rest in the next ten days since he knew that Justin would keep him more than occupied while he was around.

Pulling his tie loose, Brian dropped it onto the back of the couch as he made his way into the bedroom. By the time he stepped through the door, his shirt was on the floor and his pants were unbuttoned. Halfway to the bed, his pants were on the floor and he was wearing nothing but a pair of black boxer briefs. He would have taken those off as well, but that would have taken more effort than he had left at that point. Brian sprawled himself across the bed, pillowing his head on his forearms. He had gotten entirely too used to sleeping with Justin curled up against him that Brian had found himself having a hard time sleeping this past week. He was constantly waking up and reaching for Justin only to find that the teen wasn’t there.

Of course there was no way that he would admit that to anyone. Not even Justin.

Especially not Justin. That revelation would give the younger man a power over him that Brian wasn’t ready to give him. Since he was a child, Brian had strove to need as few people as possible in order to get through the day. He didn’t like to depend on anyone for anything.

Brian groaned loudly when he heard his cell phone ring. He was half tempted to let his voice mail pick up the message, but knew that however was calling would have a good reason for doing so. And if they didn’t, they would be in serious trouble.

Rolling off the bed, Brian trudged to where he had dropped his pants and pulled his phone out of the front pocket. He glanced at the display momentarily, before flipping it on. “This had better be important, Mikey.”

“Hello to you too,” Michael laughed.

Backing up a few steps so that he was closer to the bed, Brian collapsed onto the soft mattress. “Look, Mikey, some of us actually have to work for a living--”

“Hey! I work!” Michael cried indignantly.

“You sell comic books to pimple-faced teenagers,” Brian said dryly.

“And you fuck them,” Michael shot back.

That comment brought a scowl to Brian’s face even though the other man couldn’t see him. “I don’t fuck teenagers. I fuck Justin. There’s a difference. Now tell me what you want because I have a shit load of stuff to take care of before I pick Justin up at the airport.”

“Geez, what crawled up your ass and died. No wait! Don’t answer that!” Michael said quickly. “Look, I just wanted to make sure that you had survived the week. Is that a crime?”

Brian draped his right arm over his eyes and let out a loud breath. “And now that you’ve attempted the bullshit answer, how about telling me the truth?”

“Like I said, I’m just checking up on you,” Michael repeated.

Brian smiled knowingly. “I’ll be home in a week with a hyperactive blonde by my side. And make sure to let Emmett know that I’ll be brining him some presents.”

There was a knock at the door, announcing the arrival of Brian’s dinner.

“I gotta go, Mikey. Food’s here,” Brian told his friend, already off the bed and heading for the door. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“If the Boy Wonder doesn’t completely wear you out,” Michael teased. “You’d better eat up or you’re not going to have enough energy to keep up with him.”

“Fuck you, Mikey.”

Turning off his cell phone, Brian tossed it onto the couch as he passed by it. He hadn’t realized just how hungry he was until this moment and it had nothing to do with Michael’s comment. He just hadn’t eaten anything since the 10am brunch he had attended and it was already six at night. Considering he and Justin had five days to make up for they were both going to need lots of energy.

Brian opened the door with a flourish, unmindful of the fact that he was wearing only his underwear, and stood aside for the hotel attendant to wheel his food in. Brian allowed his eyes to rake over the well toned body of the man who had to bend over to properly grab hold of the tray’s handle. That position only enhanced the redhead’s wonderful ass. It was nowhere near as good as Justin’s but then few could measure up to the teen’s. As thoughts of Justin entered his mind, Brian shook his head to banish any thoughts of the redhead that remained.

“If you need anything else just call the front desk,” Red said as he turned around to face Brian, idly scratching his eyebrow.

Brian nodded jerkily. “Whatever.”

“Look, I get off in about an hour if you wanna... ya know,” Red stammered, shifting from foot to foot.

“No, I don’t know,” Brian said irritably. The guy was hot enough, and Brian was sure that he would be a good fuck, but there was a voice in his head that kept telling him not to. A voice that, suspiciously, sounded a lot like Justin’s.

After Red left, Brian shut the door with a lot more force than was necessary. A part of him could not believe that he had passed up the chance to fuck Red. A year ago he would have done it without a thought and wouldn’t have cared at all about who found out. The only problem was that lately the voice won out more often than not.

“Fucking twink,” Brian mumbled under his breath, reverting back to his old insults of Justin. It was easier than actually thinking about what he had just done.

Aware of the changes in his actions, it infuriated Brian that he could do nothing to alter them. And it most certainly was not from lack of effort. At that moment Brian was literally seconds from calling Red back into the room. The only thing preventing him was the voice in his head. A voice that was, quite literally, not leaving him alone.

His appetite suddenly dwindling, Brian managed to eat barely half of the food he had ordered. He felt as though he was suffocating within the suite and desperately needed to get out. Not for the first time in the past months, Brian felt as though his life was spinning out of his control. After many years of hibernation, his long dormant conscience was rearing back to life at a frightening ferocity.

Leaving his food virtually untouched, Brian grabbed a quick shower and changed into a pair of black tailored slacks and a crimson silk shirt which he left untucked and unbuttoned at the cuffs. He made a quick call to the front desk to get them to come clean up his room then left.

As soon as he stepped out onto the busy New York street, Brian started to feel better. He felt freer. And he hated himself for feeling like that. He was Brian Kinney and he wasn’t afraid of anything. Brian had worked so hard to separate himself from his emotions. It was how he had survived his childhood. But he was no longer a child. He was a grown man and was now struggling to undue everything that he had taught himself when he was young.

The fact that he had turned down Red was proof that he was changing. Slowly but surely, Justin was helping to destroy all of the walls that he had built around himself to keep the emotions out. He was also causing Brian to break all of his long set rules with a surprising speed that only seemed to be accelerating.

However, there would always be some that Brian knew even Justin wouldn’t be able to overcome. The younger man could destroy as many as he pleased, but the foundations and a few key walls would always remain intact. Even if he had wanted to, Brian wouldn’t be able to break them down. They were far too strong and far too old. Brian was determined to give Justin everything that he could, though. There was no way that the teen would stand for anything less.

Shoving his hands deep into the deep pockets of his knee-length trench, Brian started down the street. He needed to clear his head before Justin’s flight got in. To get his thoughts in order. He wanted to be in full control of his emotions when Justin arrived in New York.

It didn’t take Brian long to lose himself in the swarms of people that filled the sidewalks. At the moment he was glad for it. In this city he wasn’t Brian Kinney, King of Liberty Avenue. He could just disappear and no one would ever know. But that wasn’t an option. Disappearing was the cowards way out and Brian was no coward. He was just very confused.

These emotions were not something that he was used to and Brian was quite sure that he wasn’t supposed to be having them. His chest wasn’t supposed to be getting tight like that when he thought about Justin. It didn’t feel natural. It felt like he was having a fucking heart attack.

Only it wasn’t a heart attack. At least not the kind that would land him in the hospital. So all that Brian could do was accept this feelings that he had for Justin. Trust that Justin wouldn’t do anything to hurt him like so many other people in his life had done.

After walking about ten blocks, Brian started to feel calmer. He was no longer quite so jumpy and actually managed to eat a hot dog and some chips bought from a sidewalk vendor. By the time he had to go get Justin, Brian was much more sure of himself. His nerves were a lot less frazzled and he was once again looking forward to the coming week.

It was the week after that he was worried about.


	3. Anything of Nothing

Before he even left the plane, Justin had his headphones on. The flight attendant had made him take them off for the landing, but as soon as the pilot announced they could leave the plane, they were back on. He smirked at the attendant as he passed her and was singing under his breath as he danced his way towards the terminal.

And Brian.

Thinking of the older man brought a huge smile to his face. One that he did nothing to conceal. Justin had been so surprised when Brian had told him that he was spending the first week of his break in New York with him. Up until Brian had come into the loft and dropped the ticket on his lap, Justin had been convinced that he was spending it alone in the loft. Inviting him on the trip was the last thing that Justin had expected Brian to do.

Yet there he was, in New York, scanning the crowd for any sign of Brian.

A few months ago he wouldn’t have been sure that Brian would even be there to pick him up. For all he knew the other man would have picked up some trick and forgotten all about him.

Almost as soon as he stepped into the terminal, Justin could feel Brian’s eyes on him. It wasn’t a new sensation. Even on the crowded dance floor of Babylon Justin was able to feel Brian’s gaze from all the way across the building. Turning his head only slightly, Justin’s eyes locked with Brian’s. A hundred feet and countless bodies separated them, but Justin was still able to find him immediately.

Dropping his headphones down around his neck, Justin approached Brian with a broad smile plastered on his face. His smile only grew when he saw Brian grinning back at him.

“Hey there, stranger,” Brian said casually as he pulled Justin into his arms.

Justin went willingly, pressing his face against Brian’s throat and inhaling the familiar scent of his cologne. “I missed you.”

“Missed you too,” Brian mumbled, pressing a kiss against the corner of Justin’s jaw.

Tilting his head back, Justin sought out Brian’s lips. He found them almost immediately and moaned at the welcomed contact. He had missed the feel of Brian’s lips against his own. They were so warm and moist and tasted so wonderful. It was his favourite taste in the world and was only enhanced as he felt Brian’s tongue brush against his lips, seeking entrance. Access Justin willingly gave him as he was eager to taste more of Brian.

“You know, this isn’t the most private place to do this,” Brian murmured into his mouth.

With a moan, Justin allowed the other man to pull away, knowing that they would continue once they got to Brian’s hotel room. Sensing his need, Brian pulled him in for another quick kiss, absently sucking on his bottom lip.

“Come on, let’s go pick up your luggage.”

Brian slid out of his arms then and latched onto his hand, pulling him in the direction of the baggage claim area. Justin was glad that Brian didn’t pull away as he wrapped an arm around the dark-haired man’s waist. He had missed Brian a great deal over the past week and wanted to stick as close to him as possible. He had missed even the simplest of touches of his hand so Justin had every intention of making up those five missing days and was quite sure that Brian wouldn’t protest.

Ten minutes later they had collected Justin’s luggage and were making their way out of the airport. For a while Justin hadn’t thought that he would actually get to New York. Two days after Brian had left he had been convinced that Friday would never come and that he would never be able to join Brian in New York. Now that he had made the trip, Justin felt almost as though he were in a dream.

The blare of the car home woke him up from that immediately.

“Shit!” Brian cried, yanking on the back of his jacket. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear that you had a death wish or something.”

Justin watched the taxi zoom away before giving Brian an innocent smile. “Oops. So where are we staying? Does it have a big bed?”

Brian snorted, hailing a cab with his free hand. “Who the fuck care about a bed. There’s this deep indigo 18th century chaise lounge that I think you would look fucking sexy sprawled across.”

“I think someone’s been planning this,” Justin teased, moving towards the trunk of the cab that had stopped in front of them.

Brian smirked in his direction. “If I planned something you’d know it. This is just an observation. So let’s get going so we can get to the fucking.”

Knowing what was to come, Justin all but threw his suitcase into the trunk and bolted for the rear door of the cab. He could hear Brian laughing at him, but didn’t care. A week of jerking off alone had made him hungry to be fucked by Brian. He didn’t doubt for one instant that he and Brian would spend the entire night fucking. The next day was Saturday so the ad exec would not have any meetings or any reason whatsoever to leave the hotel room.

After giving the directions to the cab driver, Brian leaned back into the seat, his body only inches from Justin’s. So close, in fact, that Justin could feel the heat radiating from the older man’s body. Very slowly he began inching his way across the distance that separated them. It created an almost physical ache in his body to not be able to touch his lover when he was so close after being apart for so long.

Just as the artist was moving his hands towards Brian’s thigh, he felt the other man’s hand descend upon his crotch.

“Patience, my young grasshopper. All will be revealed in time,” Brian murmured against the corner of his jaw.

Justin whimpered, dropping his head onto the back of the seat. He could feel Brian grin against his skin as he shifted to accommodate his now bulging hard-on. “Cock tease,” the teen finally managed to gasp out.

Brian’s quiet laughter brought a gush of warm breath against his skin that sent shivers up his spine. “I thought you knew that already.”

One more quick squeeze and Brian removed his hand. Letting out a deep breath, Justin struggled to regain control of his body. It took a few minutes, but Justin slowly forced his eyes to open, focusing on the ceiling at first. Next he moved his gaze towards the front of the cab, his eyes locking with the driver who was staring at him through the rear view mirror. As soon as the driver realized that he had been caught, he dropped his gaze.

It seemed like an eternity passed before they reached the hotel. An eternity during which Brian’s very closeness was a taunt in and of itself. One that the older man was fully aware of. He could that from the casual smirk spread across Brian’s kissable lips. Justin watched those lips move, the words being spoken not registering in his mind as he focused his attention on their movements alone.

“Are you going to stay in here all week or were you planning on coming into the hotel?” Brian asked, lightly smacking the side of Justin’s leg.

Jerking himself back to reality, Justin slid out of the cab and all but jumped onto Brian’s back as the taller man went towards the trunk. “Oh I definitely plan on coming,” he hissed in the older man’s ear as he slithered down his body to stand beside him. “Over and over and over....”

“Someone has high expectations,” Brian laughed, shoving a suitcase into the teen’s chest.

Shifting the suitcase so that it was in his left hand, Justin shot Brian a mock glare. “You’re the one who mentioned fucking on the, and I quote, deep indigo 18th century chaise lounge that you think I would look fucking sexy sprawled across. Ringing any bells?”

Brian’s smirk spoke volumes. He may not have responded vocally, but Justin knew that Brian was just as eager to get to their hotel room. It was something that Justin had learned early on about the other man. When most people would speak, Brian was completely silent. Brian didn’t find emotions as easy to express as most people did. Justin assumed that it had something to do with his childhood since Brian hadn’t been exactly forthcoming with his past. He knew that his parents were exactly the most loving people out there, but that was really all that Justin knew.

Taking Brian’s silence for what it meant, Justin grabbed hold of his free hand and led him into the hotel. “I expect to be thoroughly entertained this week.”

“That so?” Brian asked, snorting incredulously as he stepped into the lobby of the expensive hotel. “I was under the impression you were fully aware that I’m on a business trip and that you’ll be entertaining yourself a lot of the time.”

Justin shot Brian a wide, toothy grin that he knew his lover was never immune to. “But you will have plenty of down time and I plan on taking up every moment of it.”

As they crossed to the elevator, Justin caught sight of a red-haired hotel attendant staring at Brian longingly. It wasn’t anything new. No matter where they went, there was always someone staring at Brian longingly. However, there was something off about this man. The guy was practically drooling and was unconsciously licking his lips.

“That guy’s creepy,” Justin murmured, nodding his head in the direction of the hotel attendant as the pair of them waited for the elevator.

“Yeah, he’s a real freak,” Brian responded non-committally. “Ignore him. Time for us to go and have some fun.”

Instantly, the other man was out of his mind. “You won’t get any complaints out of me. Can we eat something first, though? I’m starving.”

“Are you ever not hungry?” was Brian’s response to that.

“When I’m sleeping?” Justin guessed, shrugging his shoulders. Then he looked over at Brian, a wide grin on his face. “Or when you’re fucking me.”

The door to the elevator opened then and Brian gave Justin an exaggerated shove inside. The teen made a good show of staggering forward, bringing a quiet laugh from Brian’s lips. Then the doors slid shut and the pair were as alone as they had been the morning Brian had left for New York. The ride up to their hotel room would probably be very short, but Justin planned on taking full advantage of it. Dropping his suitcase, Justin turned and stalked towards Brian, pinning him against the wall. 

“Someone’s a little eager,” Brian murmured against the corner of Justin’s jaw as the artist attacked his throat.

Moving his head to the right, Justin laved at Brian’s adam’s apple. He felt his lover’s moan reverberate against his lips and tongue, bringing on a moan of his own. Justin only lifted his head from his oral assault when Brian slid his fingers into his hair, pulling his head up.

“We are almost to the room,” Brian said slowly, a wide grin plastered across his features.

That grin did nothing to stall Justin in the least. Whenever Brian smiled like that all that he wanted to do was devour the other man’s lips. When Brian’s smile didn’t fade, Justin stepped up to him, sliding his right hand behind his head and pulled his lover’s face down to his level. Brian’s grin grew for a moment before Justin took his lower lip between his teeth, pulling it into his mouth.

When the elevator door opened, Brian pulled back only long enough to check the floor number before dragging Justin out. They momentarily forgot the suitcases they had been carrying and had to rush back into the elevator before it closed. The pair were laughing hysterically as they made their way to the hotel room. Their attempts at kissing were very haphazard as they were more likely to catch cheeks and noses and throats than lips. Not that either was complaining.

As they reached the door to their room, Justin slid behind Brian, wrapping his arm about the other man’s slim waist. He then stood on tiptoe so that he could create patterns on the back of his Brian’s throat with the pointed tip of his tongue.

“Haven’t you ever seen a pair of newlyweds eager to start their honeymoon before?”

Turning his head in the same direction that Brian was now facing, Justin was surprised to find himself looking at an elderly lady staring at them open-mouthed. Unlike Brian’s harsh comment, Justin offered her a slight smile, hoping to ease her shock.

Whether it worked or not, he never did see because at that moment he was yanked into the hotel room by his lover.

“So what’s this about us being newlyweds?” Justin managed to asked as he was shoved against the now closed door by Brian. “I thought you didn’t believe in marriage.”

“Shock value,” Brian explained as he unbuttoned a few buttons on his shirt so that he could pull it over his head.

Justin smirked as he slipped out of his jacket before removing his own shirt. “I think the sight of us kissing was enough of a shock for her. Now quit stalling and answer the question.”

Instead of answering, Brian stalked towards the teen, pulling him into his arms. Justin’s arms automatically wound around Brian’s shoulders, the fingers of his right hand sinking into the older man’s dark hair. When Brian started tugging on his hips, Justin took the hint and bounced up to wrap his legs about Brian’s waist so that their faces were even.

“You’re evil,” Justin murmured against Brian’s forehead.

“I’m sweet,” was Brian’s laughing reply.

Feeling Brian’s tongue snake out to tickle the underside of his chin, Justin dipped his head down and sucked Brian’s tongue into his mouth. After that, talking became pointless as their mouths were more or less fused together. Breathing was becoming a challenge as he lost himself in the taste of Brian’s lips and tongue, his own natural flavour altered slightly with a faint hint of Jim Beam.

Justin felt, more than saw, Brian kneel down on a cushioned surface, leaning his upper body forward. Assuming they had reached the chaise lounge his lover had spoken of earlier, Justin unwound his limbs from Brian’s body and dropped down onto the expensive indigo upholstery.

“You know that I’m not buying that whole shock value excuse you tried to give me,” Justin said as Brian began to unbutton his jeans and slide them and his underwear down and off before moving to his own. “There’s always some hidden meaning behind everything you do. So what’s the deal, Brian?”

His tailored slacks discarded, Brian crawled up Justin’s body and lowered himself down onto the younger man. “No talking,” Brian said slowly, pinching Justin’s lips shut. “We have a week of fucking to make up for so no more talking unless it’s in the form of uncontrollable moans or the occasional gasp of my name.”

Justin squirmed slightly under Brian, forcing their erections to rub together and bringing the other man back to the matter at hand. Brian responded immediately, swooping down and capturing his mouth in a kiss that left him entirely breathless. That was about the time Justin lost all ability of conscious thought.

When he got it back, Justin was surprised to find himself draped over the couch across the room with Brian lying more or less on top of him. Justin lifted his head and promptly began to laugh when he saw the disarray the room was in. It was like their first night together all over again.

“The cleaning people will have a field day with this,” Justin chuckled, bouncing his hips to get Brian to move. Now that he was aware of his position, Justin found it incredibly uncomfortable and was longing to lie down on to chaise lounge which seemed so far away.

Brian’s response was to moan loudly and pressed a wet, open-mouthed kiss to the nape of Justin’s neck. “I think you bruised my dick. What time is it?”

Sluggishly lifting his arm, Justin forced his eyes to focus on the face of his watch with the aid of the overturned lamp to his right. “Five am.... No, five-thirty.”

Brian gave a mumbled response and slowly eased himself off Justin’s back. “Time to sleep until your stomach wakes us up for breakfast in about three hours.”

The artist was hauled up off the couch by Brian and the two of them stumbled towards the chaise lounge. At the moment, the bed was just too far away and neither of them had the energy to make it into the next room. As it was, Justin could barely keep to his feet long enough for Brian to collapse onto the lounge before his lover pulled him down onto his chest.

“This was a very nice welcome to New York,” Justin sighed as he got himself situated on top of Brian so that they were both comfortable. Not a difficult task at the moment since the two were both on the verge of sleep.

Brian yawned loudly and buried his face against the top of Justin’s head. “Thought you’d enjoy it. Now if you’d don’t mind, I’d like to be unconscious.”

Waiting until he heard Brian’s breaths even out in its usual sleeping pattern, Justin turned his head just enough to press a kiss to his chest and whispered, “I love you.”

What shocked the hell out of him was hearing Brian mumbled the same words back at him.

Pushing himself up on his elbows, Justin stared down at Brian’s face, searching for any sign of true alertness. But he had watched Brian sleep often enough to know that the other man was truly asleep, not even the least bit conscious. Lightly brushing a stray lock of sweaty hair off of Brian’s forehead, Justin placed a second kiss on the damp skin just above his left eyebrow before lowering himself back down and drifting off to sleep.


	4. Anything of Nothing

After the entire night of fucking they done only a few hours before, Brian was surprised that his dick was still capable of getting hard. Yet that was the exact state that he awoke in. Of course, it had probably been helped along by a certain young blonde who was currently covering the mushroom shaped head with open-mouthed kisses.

“What the hell has my dick ever done to you?” Brian whimpered even as his hips thrust involuntarily towards Justin’s wonderfully talented mouth.

The teen stopped what he was doing and rested his chin on Brian’s right thigh. “Do you really want me to answer that?”

Brian snorted and draped an arm over his eyes. “It’s probably better that you don’t.... What time is it anyway?”

“Just after ten. I let you sleep in.”

“How very magnanimous of you,” Brian mumbled around a loud yawn. Reaching both arms towards Justin, Brian dragged the teen up his body so that they were face to face. He was unable to stop the grin from spreading across his face as Justin smiled his mega watt smile down at him. “So what do you have planned for us today, Sunshine? A museum torture tour?”

Justin ground his hips into Brian’s, bringing attention to both of their sizable erections. “Actually, I was thinking of staying in here. All weekend. You fucking me. Me fucking you. Till neither one of us can move again.”

“Just remember that I’ve got to go to work bright and early Monday morning,” Brian reminded him as he slid his hands down the blonde’s body to grab hold of his ass.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you’re in one piece for Monday,” Justin assured him as he began to ply Brian’s cheeks and throat with kisses the same way he had been his dick only minutes before. “But until that time, you’re mine.”

“Do with me what you will,” Brian acquiesced, dropping his arms out to the side, giving Justin free range over his body.

Justin didn’t disappoint. He slowly worked his way down Brian’s body, leaving a moist trail as he licked and kissed his way towards Brian’s navel, pausing for the occasional nibble in the areas that the teen knew would drive him insane. By the time Justin got to his belly button, Brian’s skin was tingling all over and he longed to simply flip Justin over and sink into his tight bubble butt. But he had given Justin control so that meant he had to suffer for the time being.

“Justin....” Brian moaned as the teen bypassed his cock in favor of his inner thigh. “You’re being evil.”

“I think we both know who I learned it from,” Justin smirked as he flicked his tongue over the tip of Brian’s dick. “So when do I get my ring?”

In that moment, Brian felt everything come crashing to a halt. The only reason his dick didn’t soften was because Justin was still running his fingers along the vein on the underside. He had hoped that the artist would forget about what he had said in the hallway, but he should have known better. Justin never forgot when he said things like that. Or just about anything he said.

“What the fuck are you talking about,” Brian groaned, covering his face with his hands.

“Come on, Brian, I know you. You wouldn’t have said something like that to that old lady for no reason,” Justin insisted, sitting cross-legged between Brian’s legs and gently massaging the taller man’s thighs.

Brian lightly smacked his head against the pillow his head was resting on. “I just said that to get a reaction out of the old crone. I told you that. Now can we please get back to the fucking?”

“But, Bri--” Justin began to protest, but was cut off as Brian rolled off the chaise and stalked into the bedroom of the suite, slamming the door shut behind him.

As soon as he had said the words the night before, Brian had known that it was a mistake. It was far too early for him to show his hand, yet he had done just that. He had allowed his joy at seeing Justin again after a week’s separation to get the better of him and had said something that he hadn’t meant to.

Something that he wouldn’t be able to take back.

Dropping himself onto the right side of the massive king-sized four poster bed, Brian reached for the drawer in the nightstand. He stared at the open drawer for a moment before reaching inside and pulling out the small, velvet box inside. His hesitation grew even longer before he opened the box and peered in at its contents.

A pair of platinum Claddagh rings.

With the exception of his love for good Irish whisky, there wasn’t much of his heritage that Brian paid much attention to. The ancient rings were possibly the only other tradition he found himself drawn to. There was something about the crowned heart held in place by a pair of hands that called to him. It was an Irish symbol of three emotions that Brian felt very strongly for Justin. The hands were friendship, the crown loyalty and the heart, easily enough, was an eternal symbol of love. Worn in the proper fashion, the ring would be a sign for all of their devotion to each other.

“Look, Brian, I’m really sorry about being such a brat,” Justin said, poking his head into the door.

Brian glanced at Justin over his shoulder, his thumb still lightly caressing the cool metal of the rings. “I’ve told you before that sorry’s bullshit.”

“Would I be pushing my luck if I asked you what you’re holding onto?” Justin asked as he stepped into his room, idly playing with the fingers of his right hand, a habit he’d taken on after the bashing.

The sound of the lid snapping closed echoed exceptionally loud in the silence that followed. Without a word, Brian placed the small box next to him on the comforter. He would leave the decision up to Justin. His original plan had been to conceal the rings until the Friday night before revealing them to the artist, but he knew that wouldn’t be possible any longer. Not with what he had said the night before.

“Brian...?” Justin murmured hesitantly as he slowly crossed the room towards the bed.

Brian’s only response was to twist his body so that he was leaning up against the headboard, able to watch Justin’s every move and expression.

“What’s in the box?” he tried again, coming to a stop right next to Brian’s thigh, his hand hovering just above the jeweler’s box.

“To find that out you have to open it,” Brian said quietly, realizing that he liked this situation far better than the one he had envisioned for the week’s end.

The tip of Justin’s tongue poked out from between his lips as he stared down at the velvet box as though he were trying to peer inside at its contents without actually having to open it. After realizing that he wouldn’t be able to do such a thing, he reached down and closed his fingers over it, holding it as though it were something sacred when in truth it was worth nothing when compared to what lay inside it.

In sharp contrast to all his other movements until then, Justin had the box open in the blink of an eye.

And was so shocked by what he saw that he nearly dropped the box.

“Brian, these are... they’re.... Brian, you do know what these are, right? What they mean?” Justin stammered, his blue eyes shooting from the rings to Brian and back again countless times.

Rolling his eyes, Brian reached out and gently slipped one of the rings from its velvet home. The smaller one. The one Justin would wear.

“Ya be fergettin’ that Ah’m Irish, me lad,” Brian said with a thick, Irish brogue, grinning at his lover. “Ah t’ink Ah should be askin’ you that question?”

This time it was Justin who rolled his eyes as he picked up the other ring, the velvet box falling to the floor, forgotten. “Of course I know what it means. Daphne used to make me watch Buffy with her.”

“Leave it to you to bring pop culture into the moment,” Brian smirked, pulling the teen onto the bed so that he sat straddling his lap. Brian wanted him as close as possible when they did this. “Then I take it you also know how to wear it.”

Justin nodded his head instantly, reaching out to link the fingers of his free hand with Brian’s. “You wear it with the heart pointing in it means you belong to someone.” Those words were said with a smile, but the ones that followed seemed almost nervous. “Is that how we’re going to wear them?”

“I was thinking we could do one better than that brooding creature of the night and his bimbo,” Brian told him, dropping Justin’s right hand and reaching for his left one. “This isn’t just some cheesy promise ring that guys give to their girlfriends to get them into bed. It’s also a wedding ring. When you wear it on your left ring finger, with the heart pointing in, it means that your heart will forever belong to someone else. That nothing will ever be able to separate you from the person you love. Ever.”

Knowing Justin the way he did, Brian wasn’t the least bit surprised when he saw the tears shining in the blonde’s eyes at the end of his little speech. “Are you asking me to marry you?” Justin whispered, doing nothing to wipe away the tear that was slowly making its way down his cheek.

“I’m asking you for forever.”

“Not long enough,” Justin murmured as he swooped down to capture Brian’s lips with his own, drawing him into a kiss that had every nerve in his body on fire. “Never long enough.”

Raising his upper body slightly, Brian caught Justin’s lips in an intense kiss that expressed to the teen everything he could not put into words. With his free hand he clutched at the small of Justin’s back, holding the boy even closer. As close as their bodies could be and still remain separate.

A sudden thought crossing his mind, Brian pulled back from the kiss, resting his forehead against Justin’s. “I want to be inside you,” Brian moaned, arching his hips up to the blonde’s.

Justin’s response was to slide his hips forward so that their erect cocks brushed against each other. “Want you in me,” he murmured against Brian’s lips. “I want us as close as possible.”

Keeping the ring that would soon go on Justin’s finger clutched in his left hand, Brian reached his right hand towards the nightstand, blindly grasping for a condom and lube in the still open drawer next to him. He found both with relative ease, dropping them onto the bed next to his hip as his fingers once again reached for Justin’s flesh, needing to feel his lover’s skin as much as possible.

“Do we really need one?” Justin mumbled against Brian’s lips.

There was no need for Brian to ask what the teen was talking about. It was something they had discussed, on and off, for many months, but which Brian had always been leery of. Both were negative, but their joint tricking was a reason for them not to. 

However, their relationship was about to change completely. Irreversibly. Though he had not said the words out loud, when he put the ring on his tricking days were going to come to an end. His thirty-first birthday was fast approaching, Brian figured it was about time he started to grow up. Admit that what he felt for Justin was real and that it wasn’t going anywhere.

The deciding factor for Brian was that he hadn’t fucked anyone except Justin since he’d gotten his last test back a few weeks before. He’d been tempted enough, but had never acted on the urges, instead choosing to fuck Justin into the mattress until he could barely walk the next day.

Pressing a quick kiss to Justin’s swollen, reddened lips and when he pulled back, he raised the condom up between their faces. Justin’s expression fell instantly and Brian could only grin as he then moved his arm to the side of the bed and dropped the foil wrapper onto the ground.

Justin’s lips came crashing down on his, attacking with a renewed passion. Due to the ring that each was clutching in one hand, their movements were as awkward as they had been when they had first begun sleeping together, still attempting to learn each other’s bodies. Despite the temporary handicap, in only moments, Brian was slipping his lubed dick into his young lover’s hole.

Both let out loud gasps as Justin slid down completely onto Brian’s lap. The teen rotated his hips a few times, adding groans to the gasps that were already filling the room. 

Knowing that the next part of their own private ceremony should take place before they both lost control, Brian managed to calm himself enough take hold of Justin’s left hand. He brought the limb to his lips, placing a kiss on the tip of the digit that would soon be wearing one of the platinum rings.

Keeping his eyes trained on Justin’s flushed face, Brian felt to make sure that the ring was facing the right way, with the heart pointed inwards. He slowly pushed the ring down to the base of Justin’s finger, his own fingers remaining for a few moments, lightly sweeping back and forth so that his fingertips ran over skin, metal, and skin again.

“You’re mine now,” Brian murmured, bringing Justin’s hand to his lips first placing a kiss to the center of the artist’s hand then turning the limb over so that his lips brushed over the main design of the ring and the surrounding flesh with his second kiss.

Then Justin replayed the motions Brian had just completed with exact precision. Brian was hard pressed to keep his eyes on Justin’s face and not gaze down at his left hand which was being affixed with a ring that would be something that he never took off.

“You’re mine now,” Justin repeated, pressing a kiss to the center of Brian’s palm then the place on his finger where the ring sat.

In that moment, Brian found himself filled with more emotions than he thought his body could ever contain. Not knowing how to deal with all those emotions, Brian shifted both his and Justin’s bodies so that he now lay overtop of his partner, the motions creating all sorts of wonderful sensations in his cock which was still buried deep inside Justin’s luscious bubble butt. Justin’s breathless cries indicated that he was enjoying the movements just as much as he was.

Words ceased to matter then, both moving in a perfect synchrony that came from them knowing the other’s body better than their own. Though no actual message was passed between them, while their hips thrust in time with each other’s movements, their left hands joining, fingers linked together, on the mattress just above Justin’s head. Their upper bodies were pressed so tightly together that the only place they were not in contact was their necks. With that one exceptions, their slick, heated skin was joined together from their churning groins right up to their touching foreheads.

The slight tremor in Justin’s hips were a clear sign that his lover was about to climax and that involuntary reaction was enough to send Brian hurtling towards his own release in perfect time with the younger man so that they both erupted within a micro-second of each other.

“Oh god.... Bri....” Justin moaned, his words halted as he struggled for breath. “It feels so.... God, I don’t even know how to describe it.... It’s just....”

Still not wanting words to interrupt what they had just done, Brian silenced Justin’s mouth with his own. Brian didn’t want to talk just yet. All that he wanted to do was lie there, his body wrapped around Justin’s, the muscles in the teen’s asshole still spasming lightly around his naked cock. He sighed in contentment when he felt Justin’s right hand drop onto his waist, the nimble fingers massaging his skin lightly. Brian placed a lingering, open-mouthed kiss on Justin’s shoulder before resting his head on the mattress, his face turned towards his lover’s, their noses lightly touching.

Even though he had been planning this event for quite some time, the sense of calm and completeness that Brian felt at that moment was something he hadn’t predicted. If it was possible, he would never move again.

“This is real, isn’t it? It’s not just some wonderfully delirious dream I’m having?” Justin questioned, nuzzling Brian’s nose with his own.

“I am capable of romantic gestures, you know,” Brian grumbled good-naturedly, bumping his forehead against Justin’s.

Justin flashed his mega watt sunshine smile which brought an instant smile to Brian’s face. “I know you are. This just surpasses anything you’ve ever done. It’s the last thing I expected when I came in here.”

“Well it wasn’t supposed to happen until Friday night,” Brian informed him, hoping that his tone let Justin know that he wasn’t upset by the change in his plans. “You’d think I would know not to make plans when you’re involved. I always end up having to change them.”

“Rules too,” Justin added around a yawn.

Brian used his right hand to brush the sleepy blonde’s damp bangs away from his forehead, placing a kiss to the exposed skin. “My rules never stood a chance.”


	5. Anything of Nothing

Stretching luxuriously under the down comforter, Justin slowly blinked his eyes open. He was facing the window at the time so Justin turned his head down into the pillow then to his right so that he was facing Brian’s slumbering form. Brian was lying on his side, turned towards him and his left hand was resting in the gap between their pillows.

Justin’s eyes were immediately drawn to the ring that rested snugly on Brian’s ring finger and he felt his heart start to beat a little faster.

They may not have had any of the actual paperwork or legal documents but he and Brian were still married.

Committed to each other.

As if the rings hadn’t been proof enough, the fact that he and Brian had done it raw was proof enough of their new exclusive status. No one back in Pittsburgh would believe what had happened that morning. Justin almost couldn’t believe it himself and he had been one of the participants in their little private ceremony.

Justin couldn’t think of anything more primal than having Brian’s naked cock inside of him while they promised each other forever.

Inching his way across the small distance that separated them, Justin reached out a hand to smooth Brian’s rumpled bangs away from his face. He had never known anyone to have worse bedhair than Brain. It would stick out every which way with only the slightest provocation. Justin thought it was adorable, especially when Brian tried to fight it.

When he got close enough, his body pressed against Brian’s, the taller man’s left arm moved from between the pillows to drape across his torso. Brian made a snuffling noise then settled back down into a deep sleep. After momentarily pressing his face into his pillow to stifle a yawn, Justin then allowed his eyes to slide shut, intending to sleep himself.

Then there were butterflies fluttering against his stomach. Justin attempted to roll back onto his stomach-- when did he get on his back? --but the butterflies were quite adamant that he remain on his back. Not in the mood to disagree with the flighty insects, Justin allowed them to do whatever they wanted to him.

“I know that you’re awake, Sunshine,” one of the butterflies said using Brian’s voice.

“Quite, butterfly,” Justin mumbled under his breath, swatting a hand at the offending insect.

Which turned into Brian as soon as his hand made contact with the former bug’s face.

“No more butterflies,” Justin said with a sleepy grin, sliding his hand along Brian’s face until he was cupping his lover’s cheek.

Brian snorted in amusement and turned his head to press a kiss to the heel of Justin’s palm. He then abandoned his place between Justin’s legs, crawling up the teen’s body until they were face to face. By that time Justin was wide awake and wound both of his arms around Brian’s shoulders, pulling him down so that Brian had no choice but to lie on top of him. The two shared a lingering kiss before Brian settled himself down on top of Justin, his arms sliding down under the blonde’s shoulders so that his hands rested on either side of Justin’s head.

“I’m still waiting to wake up and find out that I dreamed what happened this morning,” Justin whispered against Brian’s forehead as he drew his legs up slightly so that he could hook them over the brunette’s thighs before letting them slide back down. “I didn’t dream it, right?”

Maintaining his relaxed posture, Brian nonetheless flicked Justin’s earlobe with his thumb and index finger. “Did you feel that?”

“Ow,” Justin said pointedly, bumping his chin against Brian’s forehead.

“There you go. You’re awake,” Brian said smugly. “And I’ll bet that if you looked, you’d still have the ring on your finger.”

Sure enough, when Justin lifted his left hand, the Claddagh ring was still resting snugly on his finger, heart pointed in.

Justin stared at the ring for a few moments then brought his hand down, tangling his fingers in Brian’s thick hair. “Think Mel and Lindz will be pissed that we got married before them?”

Brian’s chest vibrated in silent laughter. “They won’t be pissed. Mel’ll think I’ve lost my mind and have me committed then you’ll be sent to a new neurosurgeon for a second opinion to make sure your brain isn’t scrambled. And Lindsay will be the perfect weepy lesbian.”

“I can see you’ve given this some thought,” Justin chuckled as he allowed his right hand to slide up and down Brian’s back slowly, tracing the nubs of his spine with his fingertips. “So how is everyone else going to react?”

“Deb’ll smack us both over the head for getting hitched without inviting her,” Brian answered immediately, a smile lilting his voice. “Then we’ll end up with big red lip prints somewhere on our faces. Dear old Theodore will try to calculate the likelihood of him getting laid now that I’m out of commission.”

“Willingly?” Justin interrupted, his voice holding more of a question than he wanted.

“Willingly,” Brian confirmed which had Justin relaxing even further into the mattress. “He’ll still go home alone every night. Emmett’ll give Lindz a run for her money in the leaking, gushing department. Vic will be his usual, silent, supportive self.... Which leaves your mother.”

“My mother,” Justin echoed, scrunching his nose up slightly. “Can we just not tell her?”

Brian smirked against the side of Justin’s throat. “Come on, Sunshine, be daring. Besides, you know you have to tell her.”

“Okay, enough talk about my mother,” Justin mumbled, pushing himself up on his elbows which forced Brian to lift his upper body. “I think we need to celebrate some more.”

The predatory grin that appeared on Brian’s face then made Justin shiver. Brian dipped his head back down, licking, kissing and sucking on the underside of Justin’s jaw before moving onto his throat then his shoulders before finally reaching his chest. Justin gasped as Brian teeth lightly enclosed his right nipple and once again sunk his fingers into Brian’s hair. He worried it between his teeth, soothing the minor hurt with his broad tongue.

Then the butterflies returned, following in the wake of Brian’s lips and tongue. They blazed a trail down his torso, making brief forays along his sides before they settled right around his navel as Brian began to tease his half erect cock with his tongue. Justin moaned and tried to twist about... not sure whether he wanted to get closer to Brian’s torturous mouth or escape from him and turn the tables.

Justin abandoned the latter idea as Brian’s head dipped down further, his tongue tracing down along the artist’s perineum to his asshole. The only action that Justin made then was to spread his legs and tilt his hips upwards. Brian toyed with his hole, prodding the tight ring of muscle with his tongue before adding a finger, plying the edges before slipping it inside. Justin began to undulate his lower body, attempting to.... Justin didn’t really know what he was trying to do except that he didn’t want Brian to stop what he was doing.

There was a slight blast of a cool liquid in his rectum then the fingers returned, two this time instead of one. He felt the bed shift under him and the fingers removed. Then something wider and blunt was pressed against his hole. Brian’s arms slipped behind Justin’s knees, pushing his legs up towards his chest as he slowly began to thrust forward.

Having only experienced the feeling of Brian’s uncovered cock in his ass once before, Justin was still awed by the feeling of it. The heat from all of the blood that was gathering in Brian’s dick wasn’t shielded by a condom and Justin reveled in that warmth. And in what it represented.

The fact that they were doing it raw proved just how serious Brian was about their newfound commitment. He knew that Brian would never do anything to threaten his safety. Justin himself hadn’t been with anyone else since the night of the King of Babylon contest and even though he wouldn’t admit to it, Justin knew that Brian had significantly been cutting down on his number of tricks since he had moved back into the loft.

Now there would be no more tricks.

The two shared a gasp, the sound lost down the other’s throat as their mouths came together along with their bodies. Brian moved one of his arms which allowed Justin’s leg to drop down, pressing his foot down onto the mattress near Brian’s knee. With the new leverage, Justin began to push his hips off the bed, impaling himself even as Brian was moving forward.

The pair fell into a familiar rhythm, thrusting and retreating in tandem so that they came together with a maximum force. Whimpering and moaning, the pair fought against each other, trying to hold off their orgasms as long as possible.

It was a fruitless battle because there was no holding off their climax.

For the second time in only a few short hours, Brian’s cum shot, not into a latex condom, but into Justin’s bowels. It was that sensation that sent Justin over the edge as well.

Justin lay panting under Brian, his hands gripping at his lover’s hips to keep him from withdrawing his softening cock. He moaned in protest as he felt Brian begin to roll to the side. Brian wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling the blonde with him as he rolled himself onto his back. Even so, as their bodies shifted position, Brian’s cock slid out of Justin’s hole with a wet slurping noise.

“You make a very good pillow,” Justin mumbled around a yawn, rubbing his cheek against Brian’s chest.

“I hope you’re not implying that I’m fat, Sunshine,” Brian threatened, his voice lacking any malice as he stretched his long body out.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Justin giggled as his eyes drifted shut, sleep threatening to claim him once again. “Besides you’re more impressive than any work of art. Michelangelo had to use models for every part of David, but you have all of his magnificence in your own body.”

Whatever Brian’s response to that was, Justin didn’t know. He was asleep almost as soon as the words left his mouth. Justin slept peacefully that time, no incessant butterflies interrupting his sleep.

When he did finally awaken, it was to discover that his newly declared partner wasn’t in the bed any longer and that he was incredibly hungry. He’d only had a brief snack on the plane the night before and a few other nibbles of some of the stuff from the small fridge in the suite’s main room in between rounds of fucking the night before. Hardly anything to someone with his appetite.

Crawling sluggishly out of the bed, Justin wrapped a sheet around himself in a makeshift toga. The door was slightly ajar and Justin could hear voices out in the main room, Brian’s being one of them. Whoever was with his lover was speaking in hushed tones so Justin’s couldn’t quite make out the words. One thing was certain, Justin could smell food. Which meant that Justin wasn’t the only one who was hungry.

Deciding to make his presence known, Justin slipped out of the bedroom. He halted in his tracks when he saw that the room had been put back in order, the clothes they had been wearing folded neatly on the antique chaise which didn’t seem too worse for wear after what it had endured the night before.

“I was wondering how long it would take for the smell of food to wake you up,” Brian smirked as he glanced at Justin over his shoulder, dressed in only a pair of jeans. He then turned back to the redhead at the door, the same one from the night before, and dismissed the man with a nod.

Ignoring the uneasy feeling he got from the hotel employee, Justin made his way over to the cart of food he’d delivered. On the cart’s two levels there were 3 covered trays; the two on the top shelf being their dinner and the one on the lower shelf desert.

“Keep your mitts off that tray,” Brian barked as he saw Justin moving for what he assumed was the desert tray.

“You’re no fun,” Justin pouted as he shifted the toga which was starting to slid off his shoulder. “What’s in there anyway?”

“You’ll find out later,” Brian assured him. He then reached into the pocket of his jacket which was hanging off the coat rack by the door and pulled out his cell phone. “You should probably call your mother so that she doesn’t think I murdered you.”

Justin rolled his eyes, but nonetheless took the phone from Brian’s outstretched hand. “She won’t think you murdered me. She hangs around with Debbie too much so she knows we’ve been fucking pretty much non-stop.”

Leaving Brian to deal with the food, Justin dialed the number for his mother’s condo. It rang only a few times before someone picked up on the other end.

“Hello.”

“Hey, Moll,” Justin greeted his sister, somewhat surprised that she was home on a Saturday afternoon. “Is Mom around?”

“Yeah, just a second,” she confirmed absently. “MOM! JUSTIN’S ON THE PHONE!”

Justin winced, pulling the phone away from his ear as his sister shouted for their mother, not bothering to put the receiver down. Seeing the expression on his face, Brian chuckled quietly so Justin threw a rolled up pair of socks from the chaise at him.

“Is that you, Justin?” Jennifer asked as she picked up the phone.

“Hi, Mom,” Justin grinned, giggling as Brian threw the sock back at him. “Brian said that I should call you to make sure you knew that he hadn’t murdered me.”

Jennifer laughed quietly. “You can tell him that the thought never crossed my mind.... So how’s New York so far?”

“It’s amazing,” Justin sighed then switched the phone from one ear to the other so that he could glance at the ring on his left hand. “It definitely beats my last trip to New York....”

Justin’s growing hunger kept the conversation short. He answered all of his mother’s questions about the flight and the hotel room, all the while keeping Brian in his line of sight as the other man moved around the room. Dinner was set on the small dining table near the massive from window that overlooked the city below.

“I’ll talk to you later, Mom,” Justin murmured, waiting only for his mother’s farewell before cutting the connection. Dropping the phone down onto the chaise, Justin made his way over to where Brian stood. “So, what’s for lunch?”

“Well, I figured you could go with something fortifying so you’re having ricotta stuffed manicotti,” Brian informed him, raising the lid off the first dish with a flourish.

Justin felt his mouth begin to water as the full scent of the manicotti invaded his nose. Covered with a fair amount of tomato sauce and sprinkled with parmesan cheese, it took everything in him not to throw himself at the platter and devour it all in one massive mouthful. Brian’s meal was much lighter. A salad mixed with apples and a disarming florescent pink curried chicken.

While they ate, the two talked casually about what had been going on in the week they’d been apart. It was like nearly every other meal they’d shared in the nearly year and a half they’d known each other. Justin’s vocal appreciation of the food helped to convince Brian to attempt a mouthful of the pasta dish. The blonde was then presented with a piece of the unnaturally coloured chicken, his eyes rolling back in his head at the pleasure of the taste. Brian laughed at Justin’s exaggeration and stabbed some lettuce and apple onto his fork.

Throughout the whole meal, Justin was constantly glancing over at the remaining tray, curious as to what lay hidden beneath the silver top. Swiping his index finger through the remnants of the sauce on his plate, Justin reached towards the covered tray with his other hand only to have it swatted away by Brian.

“Patience, Sunshine. You’ll find out what’s in there soon enough,” Brian assured him, a grin playing on his lips as he brought a speared piece of chicken to his mouth.

“Not even a hint?” Justin pleaded, pouting slightly.

Brian shook his head and continued to eat the remainder of his salad. To Justin, it seemed as though Brian was taking as long as possible, prolonging his anger. Finally, Brian finished the last bit of lettuce and apple and instructed Justin to clear the table while he carried the still-covered tray over to the chaise. He set it down on the ground while he moved all of their clothes to the nearby chair then sat on the chaise, leaning against the back of it, his feet hanging over either side. Between his spread legs, Brian set the tray down and waited for Justin to join him.

Rushing to complete his task, Justin climbed onto the chaise before Brian had even settled completely. He sat facing his lover, his feet resting on top of Brian’s and their knees touching.

“I figured that this since this is the closest you are ever going to get to a wedding, the least I could do was make sure that you got to eat a piece of your wedding cake,” Brian murmured as he lifted the lid to the tray.

Just as he had said, sitting innocently on the tray were two pieces of wedding cake. Both pieces were lying on their sides and between them stood two plastic grooms.


	6. Anything of Nothing

“You’d better knock that off or we’re never going to get out of here,” Justin murmured as he dutifully tilted his head to the side so that Brian could continue to suck on his collarbone.

“We still have plenty of time,” Brian assured him, but nonetheless removed his lips from Justin’s warm flesh and finished buttoning his shirt. “They won’t be serving the food till seven. That’s in two hours.”

Pursing his lips, Justin returned the favour, making sure the fasten the top button even though Brian scowled as he did so. “Are you sure that you want me to come? I could always find something to do to amuse myself.”

“You’re my partner, Justin, you’re coming,” Brian stated emphatically, cupping Justin’s cheeks in his hands.

“But the last time--”

“There is no last time,” Brian told him. “This is the first time that we’re going to a business party. What happened at your prom was a completely different thing.”

“No! It’s exactly the same!” Justin insisted, shaking his head furiously. “We got dressed up just like this, went to some big fancy hotel and at the end of the night....”

“We both survived,” Brian finished for him, holding Justin’s gaze while he spoke. “That little homophobic prick didn’t win. We did.”

Justin sniffled, swiping at his eyes with the back of a hand. “But what if something like that happens again?”

“It won’t,” Brian promised him, the corner of his lips curving up slightly. “Besides, we’re in New York this time, attending a dinner party with people who are involved in art. Queers are par for the course.”

Even though he could tell that Justin was still nervous about going to the dinner party, he was doing his best to hide it. Brian could completely understand why Justin was so unnerved. Like he had said earlier, the party they were going to was set up a lot like St. James senior prom had been. It was also the first time Justin was going to something like this in the six months that had passed since the prom. A year ago, that would have been a very long time to Brian, more time that he would have been twenty-nine. But for Justin, those last six months wouldn’t have seemed so long in terms of what was about to happen. It almost seemed too soon to Brian as well and had the party not been so important he would have suggested that he and Justin blow it off and take in the sights of the city together.

“You know, you still haven’t told me what you think Mikey’s reaction will be to all of this,” Justin murmured, glancing down as Brian tied his tie for him. “You named off everyone else’s but his.”

Brian sucked his lips in then grinned when he notice Justin pursing his lips to the side. “Would you believe me if I told you that I just forgot about him?”

Justin laughed quietly and shook his head. “Not likely. I bet you know exactly what Mikey’s reaction’s gonna be and that it won’t be good.”

“He’ll probably think that you’re the one who thought this up and that you blackmailed me into it,” Brian told him, frowning slightly. “He’s too protective of me.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Justin snorted. “I’m still waiting for the inevitable ‘he’s only letting you stay with him cause he feels sorry for you’ speech.”

That comment caused Brian’s frown to deepen. He didn’t like the way that Michael treated Justin a lot of the time. Even after what had happened with Hobbs, Michael still tended to act as though Justin were an unwanted outsider. It wasn’t a constant, but the sentiment did tend to rear its head whenever Brian would chose to do something with Justin rather than him.

“You know that’s not true, don’t you?” Brian asked, staring at Justin intently. He ran his fingers through Justin’s hair which the young artist had yet to cut since it had been shaved for surgery after the bashing. It was becoming somewhat shaggy, but the look suited him and Brian himself took great pleasure in running his fingers through it and mussing the blonde locks up further. “That I didn’t just take you in because I felt sorry for you?”

“I know,” Justin assured him, leaning into Brian’s hand. “At least not anymore, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t slightly true when my mom begged you to take me back.”

“Is that so?” Brian murmured, arching an eyebrow.

Justin nodded his head, a wide smile appearing on his face. “I know that it’s so.” The smile then faded somewhat, his features softening. “Guilt also probably had a lot to do with it. No matter what anyone tells you, I have a feeling that you still feel pretty guilty about what happened with Hobbs.”

Knowing that Justin is right, Brian starts to pull away.

“But you’re wrong,” Justin tells him, holding tight to his arm to keep him still. “And one day I’m going to be able to convince you of that. Now let’s go or we’ll miss the food.”

Snorting in amusement, Brian grabbed his jacket off a nearby chair. “Leave it to you to put food first.”

“I’m a growing boy,” was Justin’s defense.

“Then let’s go before you start to whither away,” Brian said, winding an arm around his waist and leading him towards the door.

Half an hour later, he and Justin were entering the richly appointed banquet hall inside a mansion that had to be as old as the city itself. Brian had noticed the tension leave Justin’s body as soon as he had gotten a glimpse of what lay inside. There were no balloons or gaudy decorations, only the tasteful architecture that existed inside the room. Pop music was also absent. In its place was some subdued instrumental music which a few couples were already dancing to.

“That’s guy I’m working for,” Brian said, nodding in the direction of a well-past middle aged man who stood surrounded by several other people. “George Vaughner. He comes from old money and is the acting director of a lot of the heritage preservation sites in the city, trying to keep them from being torn down.”

“Who would have thought, Brian Kinney caring about something old,” Justin teased, smirking slightly.

Leaning over, Brian nudged Justin’s temple with his nose. “Behave yourself, Sunshine, or I’ll send you back to the hotel.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be on my best behavior,” Justin promised, of course the laughter tingeing his voice said otherwise.

“Ahh, Brian! You made it,” George Vaughner greeted, smiling at the two men approaching him.

Brian returned the smile and shook the hand that was extended to him. “Ryder would have me by the balls if I wasn’t here,” he said with a tongue in cheek smirk. “My partner is quite fond of that particular part of my anatomy so it’s in my own best interest to keep them safe.”

“But of course,” George agreed, his grin never wavering. “I am to assume, then, that this is your partner.”

“Justin Taylor,” the artist said, introducing himself to the other man.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, my boy. You must be quite the man if you are able to keep up with Brian here,” George said with a conspiratorial wink. 

Knowing Justin as well as he did, Brian could see the wheels turning in the blonde’s head as he tried to figure out a response.

“He has a very wicked tongue,” George said when he saw that Justin was about to speak.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Justin laughed as Brian wound an arm around the blonde’s shoulders, holding him close.

George chuckled as well, arching a nearly white eyebrow. “I’m going to have to agree with you there.”

Brian exchanged some pleasantries with George before the older man excused himself to greet some other guests. He and Justin made some small talk with the people in the vicinity, charming the New Yorkers as only the reigning royal couple of Liberty Avenue knew how. Young as he was compared to all of the business men who filled the room, Justin had no problems existing among them. Being raised as a country club brat had prepared him for just such a situation.

Of course, there was no hiding the fact that Justin was a teenager when dinner was served. Even though he had snacked before they’d left the hotel, Justin still ate ravenously and was glancing around for more when he saw that his plate was empty.

“Why do rich people always insist on such small portions?” Justin whispered in Brian’s ear.

“Because they aren’t stomach’s with legs,” Brian murmured, turning his head slightly to nuzzle the side of Justin’s face. “For everyone else this is a very filling portion.”

“If you’re a walking skeleton,” Justin mumbled, kissing the corner of Brian’s jaw before sitting back and staring forlornly at his empty plate.

Having eaten himself t keep him full for a while, Brian swapped his plate for Justin’s. There wasn’t much left by Justin’s standards, but hopefully it would be enough to keep him filled until the deserts were served.

“I never thought I’d see the day when Brian Kinney would play the role of the considerate boyfriend.”

Brian groaned inwardly and forced his gaze away from Justin to face the man that had spoken. “Kevin. Fancy meeting you here. What slime pit did you crawl out of?”

The slim built man arched a jet black eyebrow, a sneer twisting his features. “Now really, Brian, is that any way to talk to your ex? I thought we’d agreed to still be friends.”

“When were we ever friends?” Brian demanded, reaching his hand under the table to clutch at Justin’s. “I seem to recall those three months we dated being complete and utter torture. I’m pretty sure I even threw a party when you drove off for that internship in New York. The one you stole from me.”

“Stole?” Kevin murmured with an arched eyebrow. “When did I do that?”

Brian leaned back in his chair, taking comfort from Justin’s hand which was sliding up and down his arm. “Maybe when you took my submission and put your name on it. The only reason you didn’t get expelled because of it was that the dean didn’t want to damage the internship program.”

“Well that hardly seems fair,” Kevin protested, feigning a put upon expression. “I think I would have been out of a job by now if I wasn’t a capable advertiser.”

“Or you could still be a hack who’s still stealing ideas from other people and living their lives,” Brian said to him, glaring up at the other man.

“Let’s go dance, Bri,” Justin murmured, leaning his chin on Brian’s shoulder. “Show them what two queers from Pittsburgh can do.”

Despite the rage he felt pumping through his veins, Brian relaxed as Justin’s already active hand moved to caress his chest. He could never deny Justin anything, something which alternately annoyed and fascinated him. Since the very first day, Brian had been unable to say no to Justin, even when it meant a further hassle for himself.

“I’d love to, Sunshine,” Brian agreed, rising from his seat in a single, fluid motion. Keeping his gaze locked on his former lover, Brian held a hand out to the man that he did love.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me?” Kevin prodded, staring past Brian to Justin.

Brian shook his head, unconsciously pulling Justin behind him. “No, I’m not.”

Leaving Kevin standing there, Brian led Justin out to the area that had been set aside as a dance floor. Since most everyone else was still involved in their meals, the area was empty save for the band that was playing just off to the side. He was silently relieved that there were no blue spotlights to illuminate their movements, not wanting to chance fate again. Brian had done all that he could beforehand to keep from replaying anything from the night of Justin’s prom. While his tux was still completely black, the cut of the coat was more sleek and his crimson bowtie had been replaced by a black tie. Justin’s tux was also very different. Gone was the traditional tux, and in its place a very modern one with high buttons and, like Brian’s, had a black tie in place of a bowtie. The contrast of their colouring and height only added to their inherent beauty as they began to sway in time to the music.

“Do you want to tell me what that was all about?” Justin asked, sliding his hand from Brian’s shoulder up to caress the side of his throat.

“That was a time in my life that I’d thought was dead and buried,” Brian mumbled, leaning into Justin’s touch. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Yes it does,” Justin countered, his voice both insistent and concerned. “You were almost shaking when that guy showed up. I haven’t seen you that pissed off since the loft got robbed.... I thought you were going to kill me.”

“At the very least you were going to be strangled,” Brian said, his light tone taking the sting out of the words. “I still don’t know how you managed to get hold of my credit card.”

Justin flashed him a wide, toothy grin and waggled his eyebrows. “Where’s the fun in that? I have to hold onto some of my secrets if I’m going to keep you on your toes.”

Brian only laughed at that as he and Justin continued to glide along to the music. There was nothing fancy to the dance, Brian didn’t even spin Justin around like he had on that night six months before. Instead he kept Justin close to him, enjoying the way their bodies moved together while they somehow managed to avoid stepping on each other’s feet.

Desert was served and cleared away while their dance continued on. At times they were barely even moving, just swaying lightly along with the lilting melody played by the band while they soaked up one another’s presence. It still amazed Brian that he could feel so content with a single person. At that moment, all he needed or craved was to have Justin in his arms and in his bed. The concept was completely foreign to him, but he was painfully aware of just how true it was.

Later that night as they stood side by side in front of the mirror brushing their teeth, Brian was still marveling over the fact that he had unconsciously ignoring all the guys at the dinner party who had been cruising him. He had seen them, be perfectly aware of what they wanted, but had brushed it aside without a second thought. Even the persistent redhead in the lobby hadn’t phased him.

Brian was pulled from his thoughts as Justin silently reached up and wiped away a few suds that clung to his hairline after he’d washed his face. Already into his own ritual of rinsing out his mouth five times before taking a drink of water, Justin hadn’t noticed Brian’s stare or the way he put a hand to the area that the artist had touched.

“Think I’d give Mikey a heart attack if I stuck these guys in a really obvious place in the loft?” Justin asked as he picked up one of the two plastic bridegrooms that were still sitting on the small table next to the chaise where they’d left them the night they’d celebrated their non-conventional and not really legal marriage.

“Haven’t you learned that it’s not nice to tease people?” Brian chuckled, wrapping his arms around Justin from behind and snatching the small figurine out of his hand.

Justin laughed outright. “Look who’s talking. You do it to me all the time.”

“Oh I do?”

“You know you do,” Justin informed him, spinning around in his lover’s arms so that they were facing each other. “Not that it’s a bad thing, of course. A lot of the time I enjoy the hell out of it.... When you bring me to the edge and keep me there. And every time I think you’re going to let me come, you just back off enough so that you can start driving me insane again. Over and over and over until I feel like I’m coming apart at the seems. And I keep screaming at you to let me come... but you never do. Not until you’re ready to let me come....”

“And it’s worth it every time,” Brian grinned down at him.

“When you’re panting on top of me and squishing me into the mattress, then yeah, it’s definitely worth it,” Justin agreed, winding his arms and lazily playing with the longer strands of Brian’s hair at the nape of his neck. “Especially now, when I can feel every inch of you inside of me. Every ridge, every vein... it’s so fucking intense. More than I ever dreamed of.”

“Well then, Sunshine, I think it’s time I teased you into the mattress again.”


	7. Anything of Nothing

“Can we come back here in the summer?” Justin asked as he stood looking out at the city from the window in the bedroom.

There was a rustling of sheets behind him as Brian moved around. “Why do we need to come back in the summer? Are you going for a year round thing or something?”

Justin glanced at Brian over his shoulder. “That other time so doesn’t count. We were only here long enough to fuck.”

“Oh it counted all right. Ask my bank account,” Brian counted, smirking slightly before disappearing under the comforter.

Moving silently as possible, Justin moved back over to the bed. He waited until he was sure that Brian wasn’t paying attention then vaulted onto the bed, stretching himself out overtop of his....

“Do I get to call you my husband?”

“What the fuck?” Brian grumbled, lifting his head so that the comforter slid down.

Feeling as though he had been dealt a physical blow, Justin rolled off of Brian and wiggled over to his side of the bed. Rationally Justin knew that he shouldn’t have expected too much from Brian-- even with the rings that they had exchanged --but he had let himself hope that maybe things had changed. If nothing else, the fact that they were now fucking without a condom had to be proof that their relationship was now monogamous if nothing else.

“You know that nothing about this is legal, Justin,” Brian reminded him as he shifted onto his side, facing the younger man. “As far as everyone’s concerned we’re just a pair of queers who fuck on a regular basis. The only ones who know any different are you and me.”

“I thought we were going to tell the others,” Justin murmured, doing everything possible to hide his emotions even though he knew he was failing terribly. “The way you were talking the other day....”

A slight smile appeared on Brian’s face briefly as he reached a hand out to lightly stroke Justin’s cheek. “When we get home you can tell whoever you want. Deb, the munchers... I’ll even give you the pleasure of being the one to inform Mikey of our....”

“Historic unification,” Justin supplied, quirking a slight smile.

“You make us sound like Germany,” Brian snorted, his eyes blinking shut as he snuggled back down as though preparing to go to sleep.

Justin allowed Brian to relax for a few minutes before rolling onto his side and moving back towards his lover. “You have to go to work,” he whispered into Brian’s ear before sucking the lobe between his teeth.

“Don’t want to,” Brian mumbled as he pressed his face into the pillow. “I need to sleep for about a week.”

“You can do that when we get home,” Justin countered, vaulting himself into a kneeling position and taking the sheets with him.

Groaning loudly, Brian curled in on himself in an attempt to salvage as much warmth as possible. “By the time we get back to the Pitts, I’ll need to sleep for a week. I thought you were going to behave after the weekend.”

“I am behaving,” Justin giggled, slapping Brian’s ass as he climbed over the ad exec and out of the bed. “I let you go to sleep by three when I could have very easily kept you up till four.”

“You’re letting that ring go to your head. Husband,” Brian grumbled as he rolled off the bed and to his feet.

Justin was about to open his mouth to protest when Brian’s choice of words registered in his mind. Brian had called him his husband. The older man had never even acknowledged that they were boyfriends and suddenly he had been upgraded to husband status. Husband. It wasn’t legal or anything, but....

“Are you coming or not, Sunshine?” Brian called from the bathroom.

Scrambling off the bed, Justin bolted towards the bathroom and the shower that he knew was waiting.

As he stepped into the elegant bathroom that put the one in the loft to shame, Justin found himself riveted by the sight of his lover-- husband --standing behind the fogged glass panels that surrounded the shower. His form was very faded, hazy around the edges as a result of the extreme heat that Brian craved during his showers. Tilting his head back, Brian turned his body so that he was facing the door. The brunette’s eyes were shut as he allowed to water to run over his body, soaking his hair flat against the top of his head. As he brought his head down and began to blink his eyes open, Justin couldn’t contain the gasp that escaped his lips.

It was his painting made real.

The background was a dusky blue rather than the muted tones in his own work, but the expression on Brian’s face was identical to the one he had captured on canvas. In fact the only difference between the two was that Brian was soaking wet in the present reality.

Brian’s eyes opened then and locked on him, drawing him closer without needing to speak a word. Justin couldn’t keep the smile from his features as he crossed to the massive shower stall.

There was no way he would ever tire of sharing the shower with Brian. Since that very first morning their joint showers were the thing of legends. There had been more than a few times that they had outlasted the loft’s hot water heater only to continue on the rumpled sheets under the blue lights. Of course, there were other mornings, like that one, where time was a factor and endurance fucks weren’t permitted.

“I should be finished my meetings by six so I’ll meet you back here then,” Brian said as he checked through his briefcase a final time before closing it.

Justin snuck up behind him and wound his arms around Brian’s waist. “Does this mean that you’re actually trusting me to behave myself in scary old New York?”

“Well you survived the last time you were here,” Brian murmured, leaning into the smaller man. “I’m even going to trust you with one of my gold cards this time so you don’t have to steal it.”

“That is very trusting of you,” Justin giggled as he stood up on tiptoe so that he could bury his nose in the still damp hairs at the base of Brian’s skull.

Brian dropped his head back onto Justin’s shoulder, nudging his chin against Justin’s temple. “Inside left pocket.”

Following Brian’s instructions, Justin crawled the fingers of his right hand across Brian’s chest and under his jacket so that he could reach into the pocket. With a little bit of digging, he found what was obviously one of Brian’s credit cards and pulled it out. He held it out in front of them and was about to give Brian a fake list of all the things he was going to buy before six when he saw the name etched on the bottom of the card.

“When did I get a gold card?”

“Um... now,” Brian said, ducking out of Justin’s arms and moving over to where he had left his coat when they’d come home from the dinner party the night before.

“Why did I get a gold card?”

Sighing loudly, Brian turned back around as he was slipping into his coat. “Because you did. Look, don’t read too much into it. Just take the card and try not to max it out.”

“I’m not sure about this,” Justin mumbled, chewing nervously on his bottom lip.

“It’s a credit card, Justin. I know that you’re perfectly capable of using one. It’s not a big deal,” Brian told him as he buttoned his coat.

“Then what’s the limit on it?” Justin asked, still uncomfortable with the idea of spending Brian’s money despite the other man’s assurances.

Predictably, Brian’s only response was to arch an eyebrow. “Limit? What’s a limit?”

With little more than a parting smirk, Brian was gone, off to impress George Vaughner and his associates with his amazing advertising prowess. There was no doubt in Justin’s mind that Brian would one day be upgraded to partner at Ryder; sooner rather than later. Justin wouldn’t have even been surprised if one day he and Brian ended up relocating to New York. And the next time around it would be the two of them because in situations like that they would be a single entity. It was a part of their promise of forever.

Less than ten minutes after Brian had left, Justin was standing in the elevator on his way down to the lobby. Since he knew that art galleries weren’t exactly Brian’s thing, Justin had decided to visit them during the day while his lover was working. That way he could spend hours sketching not only the art, but the people appreciating it. His new gold card was moot point. Justin had no intentions of using it unless it was absolutely necessary. He wasn’t too comfortable spending Brian’s money and, besides that, he didn’t really need to. His job at the diner wasn’t the best paying one out there, but it still added funds to his bank account.

Justin was debating whether to have breakfast in the hotel restaurant to go to one of the nearby café when the elevator doors opened. As he was about to exit the compartment, Justin smiled brightly at the woman and her little boy who were waiting to get on. The little boy, who couldn’t have been more than four, waved back at him somewhat shyly from his hiding spot behind his mother’s legs.

In the lobby, the smell of waffles, sausage and every other type of breakfast food wafted in from the connecting restaurant. Those enticing smells were enough to convince Justin to have his breakfast at the hotel rather than braving the cold streets in search of a café. Especially when he could easily stop at one of them on the way back that afternoon to pick up some pastries for after dinner.

“You know, I don’t think we’ve been introduced yet.”

In the process of picking up a plate from one of the large buffet tables located near the kitchen, Justin glanced to his right where the voice had come from. When he saw who was standing there he instantly began to wish that he had decided on going to one of the countless cafés in New York.

“And that’s exactly the way it’s going to stay,” Justin mumbled before turning his attention to the food spread out on the table in front of him.

“Now really,” the older man chastised, shaking his head slightly. “I’d expect this kind of reaction from Brian, but I yet to even have a conversation with you so I don’t think there’s any need for you to be so rude.”

“I don’t need to have a conversation with you because I already know everything I need to about you,” Justin countered as he scooped some still steaming breakfast sausages onto his plate.

The other man only laughed quietly. “Is that so? Do I get to know what this terrible information is?”

Justin turned away from the food long enough to glare at the man, his eyes narrowing. “You hurt Brian. I don’t need any other reason.”

“Don’t you think you’re overreacting a touch?” Kevin protested, a mocking smile twisting his features. “You haven’t even heard my side of the story.”

“I don’t need to hear your side of the story. I trust Brian and I believe him not you,” Justin informed the older man as he moved along to add Belgium waffles and a few strips of bacon to his plate.

“Well aren’t you the devoted little boyfriend,” Kevin sneered, snatching one of the sausages off Justin’s plate.

“Husband,” Justin corrected him.

The ad man burst out laughing at that, following after Justin as he moved on to another table for some fruit. “You can’t expect me to believe that Brian Kinney actually got married. The Pope is more likely to become an atheist.”

Justin shrugged slightly as he tried to decide between strawberries and cantaloupe then ended up picking both. “It doesn’t matter what you believe. I know the truth and so does Brian. So you might as well just go back to whatever hole you crawled out of.”

“Actually, if you don’t mind, I think I’ll join you for breakfast,” Kevin smirked, waggling his eyebrows as he popped the final piece of sausage into his mouth.

“I do mind.”

“That’s too bad because I was hoping to find out what Brian’s been up to since we parted ways all those years ago,” Kevin sighed dramatically as he reached for a square of cantaloupe.

Deciding on the strawberries, Justin added them on top of the waffle then made his way over to an empty table with only a single chair. He hoped Kevin would get the point and leave him alone. Unfortunately, Kevin didn’t pay any attention to that and grabbed a chair from a nearby table so that he could sit across from him.

“What the hell do you want from me?” Justin demanded, quickly beginning to lose his temper with the whole situation. “And don’t you have a job or something?”

“A very well paying job, thank you very much,” Kevin grinned, leaning back and folding his arms across his chest. “As for what I want with you.... I think you know.”

His appetite suddenly gone, Justin pushed away from the table. He grabbed his letter bag that held his sketchbooks and other art supplies before slipping his coat on from where he’d set it on the floor next to his chair and stalked out of the restaurant, snatching his coat from off the rack where he’d left it near the entrance. He wanted to get as far away from the situation as possible. There was something about Kevin that really unnerved him.

“We’re not finished with this conversation yet,” Kevin shouted as he chased after him.

Justin ignored him completely and sped up a little bit, hoping that he could get a taxi and get away from the hotel before Kevin caught up with him.

“Justin, wait!”

As he burst out onto the street, Justin cursed when he saw that the only nearby taxis already had people climbing into it. So he bolted down to street, weaving his way around the people milling around the sidewalk. In the back of his mind, he knew that he was overreacting, but Justin couldn’t seem to stop the intense pounding of his heart. He was panicking and he didn’t know how to stop so he just ran, hoping that he could outrun Kevin.

Justin stumbled and spun around as he crashed into someone as he rounded the corner at the end of the block. 

“Watch it, kid!”

“Sorry,” Justin mumbled, not slowing down in the least for fear that Kevin would catch up with him. “I’m sorry.”

While Justin was still attempting to right his balance he started across the street, having caught sight of an approaching cab from the opposite direction.

A honking horn halted in him in his tracks just before a red car flew past him, followed immediately by a white one.

“You’re overreacting, Justin! I just want to talk to you!”

For reasons that he knew he would never be able to explain later, Justin stopped in the middle of the street and whirled around to face Kevin who was standing where he had been only a few moments before. When he saw the older man start towards him, Justin turned back around, starting forward before he had even seen what was in front of him.

The second time the blaring horn came too late.


	8. Anything of Nothing

For the past hour, Brian had been lying on a cramped hospital bed wrapped around his sleeping lover. He was just waiting for the sedative to wear off so that he could take Justin back to the hotel. Brian been in a panic since a Cynthia had burst in on a meeting, holding his cellphone in her hand. His initial instinct was to brush her off, but the look in her eyes had made him take the phone from her outstretched hand. 

The only thing that he really remembered from the following conversation was hearing that Justin had been hit by a car. It was a miracle that he hadn’t caused an accident himself as he raced to the hospital.

Once there, getting information on Justin had been a battle. The nurse at the reception desk had originally refused to tell Brian anything because he wasn’t “family.” It had taken nearly half an hour and a phone call to his insurance provider for the woman to concede to giving him information about Justin.

That he’d been struck by a black 1995 Porsche, the driver’s side mirror slamming into his left side and sent him spinning, barely missing a taxi coming from the other direction. Justin had been conscious when he’d been brought in, pleading for someone to call Brian.

“You knew he wanted me all this time and you didn’t let me go to him?” Brian had growled, his voice dangerously low.

“If he calls for the Pope are we to call him to?” had been the woman’s snide remarks.

“If it’s Justin you’d better fucking do it,” Brian snarled at her, snatching the file from her to find out what had happened to his lover.

Brian had been incredibly relieved when he’d read that Justin’s injuries had been minimal. A lot of bruising, some scratches and brakes in his left forearm were the total injuries. Brian had demanded to speak to Justin’s doctor at once to make sure that the man knew about Justin’s previous head injury and his many allergies.

The fact that Justin had been given a sedative immediately had Brian’s hackles up. Finding out that it had been because of a panic attack that had been one of the contributing factors to the accident had set him on edge. He’d been less than impressed to discover that no one knew the reason for the panic attack except for Justin who was currently unconscious.

Once he’d been assured that Justin was all right, merely sleeping off the effects of a sedative, Brian had refused to leave his side. He hadn’t even called Jen or Deb, not wanting to upset the two mothers. They would only make a big fuss and Brian wanted to find out Justin’s mindset before releasing the two women on him.

As it was, the only thing keeping Brian from panicking was that Justin didn’t look as lifeless as he had the last time he’d been brought into a hospital. There was no utter stillness and he wasn’t deathly pale. But he was still uneasy, his mind unable to completely release what it had been like the last time Justin had been in a hospital. All those days of not knowing then waiting to find out just how bad things would be in the end.

Justin had survived that and Brian was confident that Justin would make it through this and still be standing.

“What the hell happened to you, Sunshine?” Brian whispered into the rumpled blonde hair. “Why were you so freaked out?”

It didn’t surprise Brian that there was no response since he hadn’t been expecting one. According to the doctor it would be at least another half hour until Justin woke up and even then he would be pretty groggy. And, being Justin, he would also be incredibly pathetic and want some pampering... for the first few hours anyway. After that his moods would change more frequently than Lindsay’s had when she was pregnant.

At one point Brian felt his cellphone vibrating in his pocket, and had to fight the urge to ignore it. He knew that Cynthia would eventually call him to find out whether he would be back for the rest of the day or if the meetings needed to be rescheduled.

“Hold off all of my meetings until I tell you otherwise,” Brian said as he answered the phone.

“What are you telling me for?”

Brian groaned inwardly when he heard Michael’s voice on the other end. “You were supposed to by Cynthia.... What do you want, Mikey?”

“I just wanted to talk to you. I haven’t been able to get a hold of you all weekend,” Michael accused with a very obvious scowl.

“I’m busting my ass to get this done in two weeks instead of three and I turned my phone off all weekend so I could work undisturbed,” Brian said quietly, not wanting to disturb Justin, but also not wanting to leave his side. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m in the middle of something.”

“Brian--”

Not allowing him to finish, Brian hung up on his best friend and shut off the phone. Brian twisted his upper body around so that he could set the phone down on the side table then settled back down against Justin’s side. It was slightly uncomfortable in the cramped bed, but with nothing else to do, Brian found himself dozing lightly a few minutes later.

It was a quiet moan that roused him back to full consciousness. Instantly alert, Brian lifted himself on one elbow so that he could peer down at his lover’s face. “Justin...? You waking up?”

“Bri....”

“Right here, Sunshine,” Brian murmured, placing his free hand on Justin’s cheek, lightly stroking over a bruise with the pad of his thumb.

Justin’s eyelids flickered, but the only real indication Brian had that his eyes were open was the crooked smile that curved up one corner of his mouth. Brian leaned over Justin, blanketing the teen’s upper body with his own, being careful not to put any pressure on the battered torso.

“Wha’ happened?” the blonde mumbled, turning his face into Brian’s shoulder.

“Well it seems that you ran in front of a Porsche,” Brian informed him, his lips brushing against Justin’s temple as he spoke.

The injured man started back then immediately winced at the action. He held Brian’s gaze for a moment longer then turned his head to stare at his left arm which was wrapped in a thick cast. Within moments, Justin began to tremble, his eyes going dark as he obviously remembered what had happened that morning.

“Easy there,” Brian soothed, wrapping himself around Justin and rocking him gently.

“I don’t know why I got so freaked out,” Justin said into his shoulder. 

For the time Brian was silent, wanting Justin to be calm and relaxed before anything else. Brian was fully aware that the police were still waiting to get a statement from Justin to find out what had happened that morning, but they could go on waiting as far as he was concerned. Justin was the one who could have been killed so he was all that mattered.

“He just... he wanted to talk to me,” Justin whispered after a time. He was still lying with his face turned into Brian’s shoulder and showed no signs of moving. “He wanted to know about you. What you’ve been doing....”

“Who did?” Brian pressed, his voice miraculously devoid of any of the rage he could feel steaming through his body.

“The guy from last night,” Justin answered automatically. “Kevin.”

At the mention of his ex, Brian’s entire body tensed and the anger he’d been doing his best to hold back was suddenly rushing to the fore. Kevin wasn’t supposed to get anywhere near Justin. The man had already wreaked havoc in his life once before without nearly taking Justin away from him. For that, Brian would make him pay. When the police officer came in to get Justin’s statement, Brian would ensure that they knew everything they needed to about Kevin Horenburg to at least get him charged with harassment or whatever else the cops could manage.

“Oh good, you’re awake,” Dr. Porter, the man who had been treating Justin, said as he stepped into the curtained off cubicle. “How are you feeling now, Justin?”

“Sore,” was Justin’s slightly groggy response. He turned his face away from Brian’s shoulder so that he was facing the doctor who stood at the end of the bed.

The man made a sympathetic expression then glanced down at his chart. “Everything considered, I’m sure you’d rather be sore than attached to a ventilator and who knows how many other machines to keep you alive.... Do you remember me telling you what you’re injuries were before we gave you the sedative?”

“My left arm feels numb on top of the sore,” Justin mumbled around a yawn.

“That’s because you have three breaks in the two bones in your forearm and a recently set dislocated shoulder,” Dr. Porter informed the sleepy blonde. “Shockingly enough, those are the worst of your injuries. You have a lot of bruises from when you were thrown onto the pavement and a few cuts that only needed some butterfly tape to hold shut so I’d say you’re a very lucky man.”

Justin seemed to shake off his sleep quickly then, sucking his lips in tight as he attempted to sit up. “My ring. Where’s... where’s my ring?”

“Your ring is in my pocket,” Brian assured him, placing a light hand on Justin’s right shoulder to keep him still. “I grabbed it out of the bag where they put all your other stuff. It’s a little scuffed, but otherwise all right.”

The young artist relaxed at that, sinking into the pillows propping him up. “My finger is probably too swollen for me to wear it anyway.”

Dr. Porter waited a beat to make sure that neither man had anything else to say before speaking again. “Right. Since you’re awake I just need to check you over then you’re all free to go.”

While the young doctor checked Justin’s pupils and did other basic things doctors tended to do, Brian moved to the foot of the bed, reaching a hand under the blanket covering Justin to lightly stroke his calf. Justin remained calm through it all, allowing the doctor to poke and prod him, his eyes flickering down to Brian more often than not.

“So what’s the prognosis, doc? Can I take him home?” Brian asked as soon as Dr. Porter was finished.

“You can take him home,” the other man confirmed. “You’ll need to leave a number with us so that the police can get in touch with you about your statement, Justin, but other than that we’re finished here.”

With a final warning for Justin to not play in traffic any longer, Dr. Porter disappeared around the curtain. The tee that Justin had been wearing had been destroyed when the paramedics had cut it off so Brian flagged down a passing nurse to get a scrub top for him to wear home. Other than that, all of his clothes were fine and Brian carefully helped him get dressed and into his slightly damaged jacket so that they could head back to the hotel.

Brian held Justin against his side as they left the hospital, his fingers slipping beneath the jacket and shirt to stroke Justin’s side. He had Justin’s bag shouldered on his free arm and the keys to his rental in that hand.

“I didn’t fuck up your day, did I?” Justin asked as they neared the automatic doors that led out to the parking lot. “You’re not going to get in trouble for missing those meetings?”

Turning his head, Brian pressed a kiss to Justin’s temple. Whatever he had planned on saying was cut off by a flashbulb going off in front of them.

“What the--”

“Mr. Taylor, can you tell us why you stepped in front of that car?”

“Is it true that you were being chased by a crazed ex-lover?”

“Will you be filing any charges against the driver of the vehicle?”

Brian glowered at the reporters and photographers that were waiting for them on the other side of the door, silently cursing Dr. Porter for not warning them of their presence. His anger only increased when he felt Justin begin to tremble slightly.

“Get out of here, you piranhas,” the ad exec growled, steering Justin through the throng to where he’d parked the car.

“Is there any connection between this accident and the trauma you experienced when you were attacked with a baseball bat at your high school prom?”

That question caught both Brian and Justin momentarily off guard. Brian couldn’t believe that they had managed to find out about the bashing in the less than three hours that had passed since Justin had been hit by the car. It boggled Brian’s mind and in this case infuriated him because it was Justin’s past that had been exposed.

He kept them going at a relatively quick pace, wanting to get Justin as far away from them as possible before he did something that he knew he would regret. When they finally reached the silver Lexus that the agency had provided for him, Brian unlocked the passenger door first, helping his lover with his seatbelt before enclosing him safely in the vehicle.

“Are you the same man that attended Mr. Taylor’s prom at St. James Academy in Pittsburgh?”

Brian faltered slightly at the question. No matter how often he tried to convince himself that he was past what had happened, the truth was that he was still very effected by the attack. Justin’s latest brush with danger had brought it all crashing back to him and he’d been terrified that they would be so lucky that time around and that he’d lose Justin.

When he started the engine, Brian revved it several times to get the attention of the reporters so that they would know to get away from the Lexus. Those that didn’t get the message were forced to jump out of the way as Brian gunned out of the parking spot.

“What the fuck was all that about?” Justin gasped as the rental pulled to a stop at a red light a few blocks away. “How did they find out all that shit? And why were they making such a big deal about it? This is New York, there’s gotta be better things to report about then some twink walking out into traffic.”

Shaking his head slightly, Brian reached over to cup the back of Justin’s neck. “Just relax, Sonnyboy, we’ll get it all sorted out. Right now I just want you to worry about getting better. I’ll deal with everything else.”

Justin turned to Brian, his blue eyes watery. “I didn’t mean for all of this to happen, Brian. I just wanted some waffles and he wouldn’t go away.... I panicked and....”

The light changed to green then and Brian was forced to accelerate. He kept his hand on Justin’s neck, massaging the tense muscles. “We had this talk with your therapist before, Justin. You’re never going to react to things the same way again. Kevin made you feel threatened and you reacted. It’s as simple as that.”

“But, Brian--”

“Stop it, Justin,” Brian interrupted him, his voice soft despite the sharp edge to it. “You didn’t do anything wrong. This is all on Kevin. Okay?”

Very reluctantly, Justin nodded his head. “I’m sorry for ruining the trip.”

At the next stoplight Brian drew Justin’s head towards his, pressing his face into the disheveled locks. “You didn’t ruin the trip. I promise.”

By the time they got back to the hotel, despite the fact that Justin was wound up emotionally, he was sound asleep. After pulling into the underground parking, Brian woke Justin up just enough so that he was mobile. Justin was on his feet, but it was Brian who was controlling all of his motions, guiding him through the parking lot, into the elevator then the short distance to their suite. Justin remained conscious just long enough for Brian to strip him down once again and get him back into bed.

Then they were right back where they started; Justin sleeping soundly with Brian curled around him. Brian knew that it was only a matter of time before the rest of the family found out what had happened to Justin and then he’d be in deep shit. Every female in their family would be out for his blood.

Brian, on the other hand, was only out for Kevin’s blood. The other man had already done more than enough to screw with his life. Kevin had already stolen his life in the figurative sense and had nearly taken Justin’s in the physical. Not knowing what Kevin had wanted from Justin only made him more uneasy about the whole situation. There had been no need for Kevin to confront the artist.

Leaving Justin alone in the bedroom, Brian headed out into the main area of the suite to make a few calls. He needed to get in touch with Cynthia to let her know what was going on. Brian would wait until later that night until he decided whether or not he’d go in to work on Tuesday.

“Give Justin my love,” Cynthia said, concluding the conversation.

Just as Brian realized that he’d let his briefcase in the Lexus and that he’d have to go down and retrieve it so that he could get his datebook from inside it, there was a knock at the door. He didn’t even have to open it to know who was on the other side.

The mothers had arrived.


	9. Anything of Nothing

There was too much noise when he woke up so Justin attempted to bury his head under the pillow. Except when he tried to lift his left arm it felt as though a burning hot poker had replaced the bones in his arms. Justin remained perfectly still, waiting for the pain to pass. During those few endless seconds, Justin ran over in his mind the events that had led to him being in a lot of pain.

“Did it ever cross your minds that I was capable of looking after Justin on my own?” Brian demanded of whoever was with him in the main room of their suite.

“The reason we’re here is because you obviously can’t look after him!”

Justin groaned when he heard his mother’s shrill voice, but at the same time was angered that she was attacking Brian like that.

“We trusted you to look after Sunshine, not to get him sent to the hospital,” Debbie added for good measure.

Not wanting Brian to have to face the wrath of the two over-protective mothers on his own, Justin carefully eased himself into a seated position then slid off the bed. He was a little wobbly at first, but after a few seconds was no longer in danger of toppling over.

“Things happen,” Brian defended himself, sounding so tired that Justin began to wonder just how long his mom and Debbbie had been at the hotel. “You can’t have Justin guarded twenty-four seven. It just doesn’t work that way.”

“But we agreed to let him come here with the understanding that you weren’t going to let anything happen to him,” Jennifer said in her perfectly cultured WASP tone that Justin knew far too well.

“You make it sound like you had a choice,” Brian snorted, his amusement doing nothing to hide his exhaustion. “Justin would have come here with or without your permission.”

The door was open just enough so that Justin didn’t have to turn the knob to open it the rest of the way. He was very quiet about it, wanting to get a lay of the situation before entering it. Brian was standing in front of the chaise, turned slightly towards the bedroom while his mom and Debbie were squaring off directly in front of him with their backs towards the bedroom door.

Justin met Brian’s eyes briefly, but gave no indication to the two women that the blonde was awake. At least not any sign that his mom and Debbie could determine because only Justin saw the slight softening of Brian’s features.

“I would have come no matter what,” Justin confirmed, bypassing his two mothers and walked directly over to Brian, molding himself against his husband’s side. “And, for the record, this wasn’t Brian’s fault. I was the stupid one who walked in front of a car. So lay off him, okay.”

“Justin, we only want to--”

“It doesn’t matter, mom,” Justin interrupted her, turning his face momentarily into Brian’s shoulder to put some pressure on the bridge of his nose to help relieve the headache he could feel forming. “I’m fine anyway, a little banged up, but fine. You really didn’t need to come here. How did you find out anyway?”

His mom and Debbie exchanged looks, silently conferring with each other. While they were doing that, Brian sat down on the chaise, pulling Justin into his lap. Being extremely careful, Brian then stretched them out so that they were leaning against the high back of the old chair.

“A man called me,” Jennifer said at last. “I think he said his name was Kevin something. I wasn’t paying too much attention after he said that Justin had been hit by a car. He says that he knows you, Brian, and that he was calling for you.”

Brian’s entire body tensed at the revelation, so tense that Justin nearly winced at the tight hold Brian had on his waist. 

“You could have just called Brian and found out how I was,” Justin pointed out, covering Brian’s clenched fists with his right hand and rubbing them lightly.

“Well one of us would have had to come up here anyway because you’re coming home with us tonight,” Debbie informed him.

Both men were thrown off by that command even though neither of them should have been. Ever since he’d been hurt at his prom, the two women had become even more protective of him than before. The thing that they tended to forget, however, was that he could take care of himself.... Most of the time. And those rare times that he messed up, Brian was there.

“I hate to break it to you, but I’m not going home till Sunday afternoon with Brian,” Justin said after a few moments of heavy silence.

Jennifer looked as though Justin had slapped her. “But who’s going to take care of you?”

“Mom, it’s a broken arm,” Justin sighed, rolling his eyes dramatically for effect. “It’s not like I got flattened by the car. I think I can manage to walk through museums and look at the art with only one hand.... It’s just shopping with Brian that I’m worried about.”

“Twat,” Brian murmured affectionately in his ear.

“But, Justin--”

“I’m staying here with my husband!” Justin shouted, the words slipping past his lips before he even realized what he was saying.

“Your WHAT?!” his mother and Debbie shouted at the same time.

Cursing under his breath, Justin wracked his drug-addled mind to figure out an excuse for what he’d said. Even though Brian had said that he was okay with their family finding out about their not-actually-married marital status, the older man probably hadn’t thought that it would happen quite so soon.

“You heard him,” Brian said into the silence.

“But this is New York, not Vermont,” Debbie protested, advancing towards the two of them. “You can’t get married here.”

“Neither can Lindz and Mel but they’re still planning on getting married,” Brian pointed out, lightly running his hand over Justin’s stomach. He then lifted his left hand so that the two women could see his ring. “Besides you know I hate wearing jewelry.”

“Holy shit!” Debbie gasped, clutching a hand over her heart. “I don’t fucking believe it.”

“Believe it,” Brian smirked as he settled his hand back down onto the artist’s stomach. “Now, since Justin’s told you that he’s not going back to the Pitts until Sunday, you might as well leave.”

Justin snorted slightly, knowing that there was no way either woman would be leaving any time soon. He wished that they had enough faith in Brian to not even make the trip, but that was simply asking too much of them. It was like they completely forgot the fact that Brian was the one who had taken care of him after he got out of the hospital. Brian was the one who had helped him get better, not them. They’d just handed him over to Brian when things got too much for them.

“Look, mom, I’m really tired....”

Immediately his mother started to move forward. “Here, sweety, let me help you up.”

“He’s fine here, Jennifer,” Brian said shortly, stopping her in her tracks. “I promise I won’t drop him on the floor.”

Siding with Brian, Justin let himself relax further into his lover’s body. Like Brian, he was perfectly happy to remain on the chaise.

“I’m fine, mom. Really,” Justin tried to assure her. “But I am tired. I’d just like to sleep and eat something later.”

“You sure you don’t want to eat now?” Brian asked, speaking softly against the side of his head. “You haven’t eaten anything yet today.”

Until that moment, Justin hadn’t realized just how hungry he really was. His breakfast had been interrupted by Kevin and he knew that he’d at least slept through lunch, dinner as well depending on what time it was. 

“Can we get chicken fingers?” Justin mumbled, tilting his head back so that he could see Brian’s face. “With french fries and plum sauce?”

Even though he didn’t have a proper view of Brian’s face, Justin could still see his muscles twitching in such a way that Justin knew he was smiling. “Yeah, we can get chicken fingers. But then you’re going to have to sacrifice my presence for a little while so that I can go down to the gym and work off all the food you’ve been making me eat lately.”

“You had a wedding cake!” Debbie gasped.

Neither of them had really been paying much attention to Debbie and had failed to notice that she found the two little grooms standing on the table next to the couch.

“We had pieces of wedding cake,” Justin corrected her, smiling fondly at the memory. “And Brian was a good boy and ate all of his.”

“I’m so proud of you two,” Debbie snuffled, holding the two figures to her ample chest. “This is a very big thing and when you come home next we’re going to have a big party. The whole family. It’ll be a big celebration!”

“You don’t have to do that,” Justin protested, knowing that Brian didn’t want to make a big deal out of what they’d done. “It’s really not that big a deal.”

“Of course it’s a big deal!” Debbie insisted, whirling around on them. “The two of you are married! For better or worse and all that!”

“I don’t remember that being part of our vows, do you, Sunshine?” Brian asked, sounding quite casual about the whole thing.

Justin pretended to think about it then shook his head. “No, I don’t either. Nothing like that.”

Despite his hunger, Justin soon found himself nodding off in Brian’s arms. He was vaguely aware of his mother telling Brian that she and Debbie were going to get a room in the hotel and that they’d be back in the morning. Justin wanted to tell them that they could go home, that he was fine, but didn’t have the energy to do that. He just remained settled against Brian, relaxing even more.

Justin wasn’t sure how long he slept, but he was jolted from sleep by the door to the suite being slammed shut. He jerked out of Brian’s hold, but regretted the action as a bolt of pain shot through his arm.

“Fucking asshole,” Brian grumbled under his breath, running a hand over Justin’s stomach to soothe him.

“What was that all about?” Justin mumbled around a yawn, snuggling himself deeper into Brian’s chest.

“Just that damn redhead that won’t go away,” Brian said as he sat up which forced Justin to sit up as well. “Turns out the guy doesn’t even understand the word no when you’re sitting right there between my legs.”

“Maybe next time I should be sitting on your cock instead of just against it,” Justin grinned, visually searching out the food that he could smell. “Did you get the chicken fingers?”

“Only you can go from sex to food in the space of a breath,” Brian groaned, sliding out from behind Justin and walking in the direction of the cart. He wheeled it out from behind the couch and lifted the lid of one of the two covered plates to reveal a plate of chicken fingers and fries. “Does this meet your high standards, Sunshine?”

It took a little bit of effort on Justin’s part to get to his feet. He immediately made his way over to where Brian was standing and lifted the lid of the other tray to reveal another plate with the same meal. The simple fact that Brian was willing to eat fried, fatty foods was proof enough for Justin that he was serious about their very unorthodox marriage. If it had been even a week earlier Brian wouldn’t have gone anywhere near the fast food-like meal

“What about the--”

Brian interrupted Justin’s query by raising a sterling silver gravy boat and drizzling some of its contents onto the fries on the plate in front of the blonde. “I believe this is what you were looking for.... You know, there’s a lot of fun we could have with this later. It’s even in the perfect container.”

“Now who’s thinking about food and sex together,” Justin chuckled, snatching up the gravy boat from Brian’s hand and walking back over to the chaise.

It didn’t take Brian long to figure out exactly why Justin wanted the finger foods. Especially not with the gooey sauce that came with it. As much of the sauce was smeared across their chins and cheeks as made it past their lips as they dangled the food in front of each other’s mouths. Instead of his injured arm being a handicap, it was an advantage because instead of using his left hand to wipe away the excess sauce, Justin simply licked it away with broad swipes of his tongue.

“Switch places,” Justin instructed, setting his plate down on the tray which had been moved next to the chaise. “And take your clothes off.”

Brian raised a hand to cup the side of Justin’s face, drawing him in for a kiss. “I’ll do that, but if you really want to pay I think you should go into the bathroom and get one of those big towels so we don’t make a mess on the chair.”

Justin wasted no time, scrambling from the chaise-- with a little assistance from Brian so that he didn’t go tumbling feet over head --and rushing towards the bathroom which was connected to their bedroom. He was going as fast as he could manage while unfastening his jeans along the way. The scrub top was more difficult and Justin knew that he would have to wait for Brian in order to get it off.

When he emerged from the bedroom, a massive white towel clutched in his right hand, Justin was stopped in his tracks by the sight of Brian standing naked before the windows, his slender body stretched out as he worked the kinks out of his back. His head had been tipped back at first, but as he brought it forward, his bangs fell down over his eyes and to Justin he looked like an absolute work of art in that moment.

“What are you doing all the way over there, Sunshine?” Brian asked as he dropped his arms down to his sides. “This was your idea.”

Without hesitation, Justin crossed the space that separated them and went immediately into Brian’s arms, their lips meeting in the same moment their bodies did. The towel fell forgotten at his side as Brian’s lips ravaged his, one hand clutching at the back of Justin’s head and the other holding his hip.

In that moment everything else fell away and Justin was aware of only where Brian touched him. Lips, hands, chest... it was all Brian and it consumed him completely.

It wasn’t until he felt the chaise bump against the back of his knees that Justin realized Brian was moving him towards the piece of furniture. Caught off guard, Justin started to tumble backwards, but was help up by Brian; the older man turning them around so that he was the one who sat down on the blue cushioned seat.

“This is a good height,” Brian grinned up at Justin, his fingers dancing over the artist’s hips. “Perfect height for this.”

Keeping his right hand on Brian’s shoulder to maintain his balance, Justin kept his eyes focused on the ad exec’s nimble fingers as they made short work of his jeans and boxers. He shuddered as Brian dipped his head down to take the tip of his half hard cock between his lips. Sucking on the head, it didn’t take long for Brian to work the dick in his mouth into full hardness.

“I wanna paint you,” Justin whimpered as Brian’s tongue began to beat idle patterns against the thick vein on the bottom of his dick. “Bri.... Please... I wanna paint you.”

With a flourish, Brian threw himself against the back of the chaise, holding his arms out to the side. “Then paint away, Sunshine.”

“Help me off with the shirt first,” Justin instructed as he began fiddling with his sling.

A minute and a few winces later, Justin was as naked as Brian and straddling his lover’s upper thighs, the gravy boat of plum sauce within easy reach. He swirled two fingers around in the gooey mess and began to drizzle it over Brian’s chest then chasing it with his tongue, paying special attention to the burnished nipples that he was slowly working into hard peaks.

“You’re gonna kill me one of these days,” Brian gasped as Justin wrapped his sticky fingers around the older man’s dick.

Justin grinned broadly, a warm flush going through him as he stared at the sight before him. “Hopefully that won’t be for a very long time.”

“Very long time.”


	10. Anything of Nothing

As he had expected, it was only the gay rags that ran stories about Justin’s little adventure with the fancy car. He’d made arrangements with the hotel to send him the papers along with The New York Post and The Wall Street Journal so they were waiting for him the next morning when he woke up. The only part that really shocked Brian was the fact that it was his picture that was on the front page with the articles about the accident rather than Justin.

And he knew exactly who was responsible for it.

Leaving Justin in the capable care of his two mothers, Brian left the hotel at eight, two hours before his meeting with the heritage committee, to search out his troublesome ex. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what Kevin was up to. The same thing that Kevin had done to him when they were in school.

“Good morning, I have an appointment with Kevin Horenburg,” Brian said to the petite brunette behind the reception desk at Kennedy and Collins.

The woman glanced down at her computer and began typing away at the keyboard, her eyes occasionally darting up to glance at him from under her lashes. “Um.... I’m sorry, but Mr. Horenburg is no longer with Kennedy and Collins. He was let go about two weeks ago. Are you sure that you have a meeting with him?”

“Well I did three weeks ago,” Brian said with a lop-sided grin. “Say, you don’t think you could get me a number where I can contact him?”

Not only did Brian walk away with a phone number that morning, but an address as well. An address that Brian hadn’t been expecting. The way Kevin had been acting, Brian had expected something that required a six figure income to maintain and not the dingy building he pulled his Lexus up in front of. He wasn’t even sure that he wanted to leave the rental vehicle parked there.

It was only a rental, though, so Brian left it there as he made his way inside and up to the third floor apartment. He was going to end the thing with Kevin that morning even if it meant having to miss more meetings. There was no reason for Justin to have to deal with something that had absolutely nothing to do with him. Thanks to Chris Hobbs, Justin already had enough to deal with.

“I’ll have your money at the end of the week!” Kevin shouted in response to Brian’s knock on his door.

Not wanting to give away his identity, Brian only knocked harder. It was a few minutes before he heard Kevin moving towards the door and begin unlatching the locks. Brian stopped his knocking, but didn’t back away just in case Kevin tried to slam the door in his face.

“Hey there, Kevin. I hear you’ve been a busy boy,” Brian smirked as his one-time lover opened the door.

“Brian!” Kevin gasped, startling back a few steps so that Brian was able to push the door open the rest of the way and entered the small apartment.

“You sound surprised to see me,” Brian drawled, stepping further into the ill kept apartment. Once he had the door shut behind him, he glared at the man who he had once considered a friend. “Did you really think that I would let you fuck with my life? With Justin?”

Kevin shrugged absently, trying to appear as indifferent and superior as he could in a pair of plaid boxer while Brian stood there in a $3000 Armani suit. “I didn’t do anything. That kid freaked out all on his own. I just wanted to talk with him.”

“You shouldn’t have been anywhere near Justin,” Brian growled, taking a menacing step towards the other man. “And you shouldn’t have called his mother or sent those goddamned reporters after him. If you want to go after me, fine, I don’t give a shit, but you stay the fuck away from Justin!”

“Ahhh, but by going after him I hurt you,” Kevin grinned, regaining some of his confidence. “Serves my purposes wonderfully. How is your little boytoy? The papers say he was released from the hospital last night, but that he was still a little frazzled.”

Brian rolled his eyes in annoyance and crossed his arms over his chest. “You know, I’m still waiting to find out just why you’ve decided to piss me off after being gone for nine wonderful years.... I’m thinking that it has something to do with you being out of a job. Care to correct me?”

“It’s your fucking fault that they let me go!” Kevin shouted, momentarily losing his temper.

“How in the hell is it my fault you got fired?”

“Because I’m still stuck in your fucking shadow!” the irate ex-ad man bellowed, jabbing a finger in Brian’s direction. “Here I was celebrating the fact that I got promoted to a job you were being considered for only to find out that the board’s decided they made a mistake and should have taken you instead.”

“That’s fucked,” Brian snorted, dropping his arms back down to his sides. “If you got fired it’s only because someone finally got wise to the fact that you’re a piss poor advertiser.”

“Yeah, well from what I hear, you’ll be getting a call before you leave New York with a job offer from Kennedy and Collins,” Kevin sneered, his muddy eyes narrowed in anger. “A nice cushy offer to lure to away from Ryder. You’ll practically be made a partner.”

Brian sat in the driver’s seat of the Lexus for several long minutes after he’d left the apartment building, attempting to process what Kevin had told him. If what Kevin had said was true, then very soon he would be offered everything he had been working for since graduating from Penn State. He’d have the Madison Avenue office, the expensive loft in the heart of Manhattan and enough money so that Gus would be set for life.

Except now there was Justin.

The last time moving to New York had been an issue, Justin hadn’t been. Whether he loved Justin or not hadn’t really mattered to him because his job had been more important. He’d still been in his twenties and Justin hadn’t almost been stolen from him. Seven months later he was thirty and Justin was his... husband. That meant he couldn’t just accept the offer-- provided Kevin was even telling the truth --without taking Justin into consideration.

Brian was in something of a daze as he drove back towards downtown Manhattan. Of all the things that he had thought to result from Kevin’s unwanted reappearance in his life, that was by far the last. The last time they’d met, Kevin had thoroughly fucked him over. This time around it was his ex that the fates were kicking in the ass.

“Save me, please,” Justin whimpered into the phone when Brian called him as he made his way into the building that housed the heritage committee George Vaughner headed up.

Even though Justin couldn’t see him, Brian arched an eyebrow. “That bad already? It’s not even noon, Sunshine.”

“They won’t let me go to any museums,” the artist sulked amidst the sounds of Jennifer and Deb ranting in the background. “Plus they keep insisting that I’m going back to Pittsburgh with them tonight.”

“Damn straight you are!” came Deb’s muffled shout.

“You’re not going back to the Pitts tonight,” Brian promised him, nodding his head at Cynthia as she rushed across the lobby to meet him. “You’re going out to dinner with me tonight. Without the mothers.”

“Where are we going?” Justin asked, perking up.

“That’s for me to know and you to find out, Sunshine,” Brian murmured, glancing at the mock up Cynthia held up for his inspection then nodding his head.

“In other words Cynthia hasn’t made the reservations yet.”

Brian glanced at his assistant out of the corner of his eye, Brian couldn’t stop the tongue in cheek smirk that appeared on his face. “Just be ready to go at six.”

“So what are you and Justin celebrating?” Cynthia asked after Brian had hung up his phone.

“Nothing yet,” Brian said as he extracted the folder from his assistant’s hands, wanting to go over the information again before the meeting.

The rest of the morning went off without a hitch. Despite the earlier upheaval, Brian was fabulous and impressed every person in the room. In the back of his mind, however, was what Kevin had said to him. No matter how hard he tried he couldn’t force it completely from his mind. A part of him wanted to believe that it was true. New York was a dream that he had never really been able to let go of no matter how hard he tried to.

The only difference was that the next time moving to New York became a possibility, him becoming the queer sex god of the city wouldn’t be part of the plan. At least not to anyone other than Justin.

After the morning meeting had ended, Brian and Cynthia remained behind in the conference room to finalize some things for the meeting that would take place after lunch. There was a lot that still needed to be finalized before Brian returned to Pittsburgh at the end of the week and Brian wanted to get it done as quickly as possible to make sure that he wouldn’t have to stay on after Justin went home on Sunday.

Just as they were packing up so that they could go for their own lunch, Brian’s cell phone, which he had turned on after the meeting in case Justin needed to get in touch with him, started to ring. The number that appeared on the screen was one that he had never expected to see on his phone again.

“Hey, Kinney, this is Adam Lyons from Kennedy and Collins,” the man on the other side line said.

“Yeah, I recognized the number,” Brian smirked into the phone. “Why are you calling me?”

“I heard you were in town and was wondering if you were free for dinner,” the other ad man inquired.

Without even pausing, Brian answered with, “I’m having dinner with my husband.”

“Husband?” Adam gasped, his voice coming out in a short wheeze. Then he started to laugh quietly. “That’s a word I never thought I’d hear come out of your mouth.”

“That seems to be the general consensus,” Brian chuckled, leaning back into his seat and pointedly ignoring the smirk on Cynthia’s face.

“Bring him,” the other man instructed. “This is actually a business dinner. My bosses have a proposition for you and if you really are married this will effect him too.”

The plans, both for dinner and the meeting, were finalized and Brian carried on with his day. He had not given anything away to Adam, Brian knew exactly why the partners of Kennedy and Collins wanted to have dinner with him. He hadn’t wanted to earlier, but he had to admit that Kevin was telling the truth. The New York agency was going to offer him a very tempting placement with their firm. Brian still didn’t know what exactly that job would be, but he knew that their offer would have to be an impressive one after having already turned him down for the same position once.

When he returned to the suite later that afternoon around five o’clock, Justin was standing in the middle of sitting room dressed in only a pair of black slacks and his sling, arguing with his mother.

“Hello, honey, did you miss me?”

All of the tension left Justin’s body at the sound of Brian’s voice and Jennifer spun around to face him as he casually closed the door behind him. Brian held Justin’s eyes as he crossed the room, placing a hand on the small of his lover’s back as he came to stand next to him and dropping a kiss onto the top of his head.

“Why don’t you go finished getting dressed while I send your mother on her way,” Brian murmured, glancing sideways at the refined, if somewhat flustered, woman.

“Behave yourself,” Justin grinned, tilting his head up to catch Brian’s lips in a quick kiss.

“Call me if you need any help,” Brian instructed, pulling the blonde in for a second kiss before releasing him. He waited until Justin had shut the door behind him before turning his attention to Jennifer and Deb. “Do you insist on telling me why you insist on giving Justin such a hard time? He’s fine. The breaks were all clean so they’ll heal with no problems, he didn’t have any negative reaction from the drugs and there’s no residual effects from yesterday’s panic attack. Justin doesn’t need you babying him. What he needs is to move on with his life.”

There was a lot more that Brian wanted to say, but if he got into it then, he and Justin would miss their dinner with Isaac Kennedy and Dominic Collins.

“But he’s still recovering from the bashing,” Jennifer protested, twisting her fingers the same way Justin did when he was upset. “We still have to be careful with him.”

“It’s been seven months,” Brian said, exasperated. “Justin’s back in school and except for the occasional upset he’s a hell of a lot better than he was when you dropped him on my doorstep. You can’t coddle him forever.”

“He’s my son,” she insisted pathetically.

Pursing his lips, it took a great deal of effort for Brian to keep his temper in check. “And he’s my partner. I’m the one who’s been there for most of his recovery so I think I have a better idea than you of what Justin’s capable of. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Justin and I have a business dinner to get ready for.”

“Justin is only a child. What right does he have a business dinner with you?” Jennifer demanded, her worried facade turning into one of outrage.

“Justin is my husband,” Brian reminded her, taking great pleasure in her upset frown. “What happens in my life effects him. It has for a long time, but now it’s not only my life, it’s _our_ life. So he’s coming with me. And he will have a fabulous time without his mommy.”

Jennifer left in a huff at that point, mumbling something about having dinner with Deb in the hotel restaurant.

Waiting until he was sure that Jennifer was gone, Brian finally allowed himself to relax. He stayed out in the sitting room for a few moments longer before making his way into the bedroom where Justin was struggling with the buttons of his dark blue silk shirt.

“My fingers still feel a little awkward,” Justin explained as Brian took over buttoning the blonde’s shirt. “But at least they’re not still all swollen.”

“Is that supposed to be a hint?” Brian smirked, glancing up from what he was doing to meet Justin’s hopeful gaze.

Justin bobbed his head from side to side, grinning slightly. “Think of it as a hopeful suggestion.”

Leaving the top three buttons undone, Brian slid his hands lightly down the front of Justin’s chest, smoothing the shirt out. He held Justin’s gaze for a moment before making his way over to the nightstand on his side of the bed where he had left Justin’s ring in the top drawer. Extracting the ring from its case, Brian turned and walked back over to where Justin was still standing, his smile growing even wider.

“Time for us to match again,” Brian murmured as he awkwardly held Justin’s cast encased left hand. After he slid the ring into place, he lightly kissed the tips of the artist’s fingers, not wanting to bump his nose against the hard cast if he pressed his lips to the ring like he had the first time he’d put it on.

“Much better,” Justin whispered, sliding his free hand behind Brian’s head and pulling his head down so that their foreheads were touching.

As much as he wanted to strip Justin of all his clothes and spend the night in their temporary bedroom, Brian knew that he couldn’t miss that dinner. So instead he sent Justin out of the room so that he could get changed himself. Wanting to appear casual, Brian decided against wearing a suit. Charcoal slacks and a thin crimson cashmere sweater was the ensemble he final decided on. After a quick shower and shave, Brian felt refreshed and ready to deal with whatever happened at dinner.

“So where are we going?” Justin demanded as Brian stepped out of the bathroom. He was sitting on the end of the bed, idly tapping on his cast.

Not wanting Justin to be caught off guard by anything the two men said, Brian came clean about what he had found out that morning. Brian could tell that Justin was upset when he found out about his visit to Kevin that morning, but the blonde pushed that to the side, focusing instead of what else Brian was telling him.

“So we might be moving to New York?” Justin murmured when he was finished.

“Could be,” Brian confirmed, coming to stand between Justin’s knees. “But we don’t have to make any decisions tonight. We’ll hear what they have to say and then decide on it.”

Justin was silent for a few minutes, taking it all in. When he did speak again there was a slight smile curving his lips.

“At least this time I’d get to go with you.”

Leaning down, Brian dropped his forehead against Justin’s. “I wouldn’t have it any other way, Sunshine.”


	11. Anything of Nothing

Despite the fact that he felt incredibly uneasy, Justin held his head high as he and Brian entered the expensive French restaurant. Brian hadn’t said anything, but Justin knew that the business dinner they were attending hadn’t been planned. He could tell that Brian was just as shocked as he was about the possible job offer.

In all honesty, Justin didn’t know what to think about the possibility of them moving to New York. For his career, however far in the future it was, living in New York would only help. Advertising was a very visual medium; which meant art; which meant a possibility of finding contacts at any functions he went to with Brian. At the same time it meant leaving his family behind.

That was the main problem with the whole situation. Justin didn’t know if he’d be able to move so far away from his family. In New York it would be just him and Brian, no one else.

“Breathe, Sunshine,” Brian murmured as he casually brushed a kiss against his temple. “Nothing has to be decided tonight. All we do now is hear what they have to say.”

Justin nodded his head stiffly, leaning against Brian’s side. “I can do that.... They’re paying for this, right?”

Brian snorted and squeezed Justin’s hips slightly. “Yeah, they’re paying for it, and no it doesn’t mean you get to have three deserts.”

“Spoilsport,” Justin grinned, already feeling better about the situation.

Brian nudged him slightly with his hip as they reached the maitre-de who stood at the far end of the lobby. “Kennedy and Collins.”

The man checked over the reservations written in the gilded book in front of him before nodding his head. “Right this way, sirs. Mr. Collins and Mr. Kennedy have already arrived.”

Justin stuck close to Brian’s side as they entered the main dining room, walking as close as possible without touching the other man. Now that he saw the clientele that was dining at the restaurant, Justin wished that he’d dressed up a little more. He also felt uneasy because he knew just how roughed up he look. There was a scratch on the underside of his jaw and a bruise on his cheekbone, both on the left side of his face. On the right side of his face was a cut near his eyebrow, a dark purple bruise surrounding it.

As they were led through the array of tables, a pair of middle aged men rose from their seats, the closer one holding a hand out to Brian.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Mr. Kinney,” the taller of the pair greeted as he shook Brian’s hand. He was clean-shaven with distinguished greying temples on his full head of dark hair having aged much the same way he’d always envisioned Brian when he reached his fifties. “Dominic Kennedy and this is my associate Isaac Collins.”

“Brian, please,” Brian said as he reached over to shake Isaac’s hand. He then motioned with his free hand. “My husband, Justin Taylor.”

Justin was so thrown when Brian introduced him as his “husband” that he almost didn’t react when Dominic reached a hand in his direction. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Newly weds, I take it,” Dominic grinned as he gave Justin’s hand a tight squeeze. “You reacted the same way my daughter did when she got married last year.”

“Less than a week,” Justin confirmed.

“All the best to you then,” Isaac said, completing the introductions.

While they got themselves settled at their table and began to look over the menus the quartet talked about the coming holidays which were less than two weeks away. Never having been one to celebrate holidays, Justin was the one who handled the bulk of that conversation. Justin knew that between him and the munchers, Gus would be bouncing off the walls the entire day and he couldn’t wait. Unlike the previous Christmas, Gus was old enough to know what was going on around him now. And even though he knew he’d never be able to get Brian to admit to it, the older man was secretly excited about celebrating Christmas with his son.

“Somehow, I don’t think that you invited me here to discuss holiday plans?” Brian said as his entrée was set down in front of him.

Dominic grinned broadly and raised his glass of merlot in Brian’s direction before taking a sip. “Adam told me that you were incredibly blunt. It’s a good thing that we like that in our senior executives.”

“So there is a job offer,” Brian said casually even though Justin could see the momentary excitement dancing in his eyes. A job in New York was everything he’d ever wanted.

Having both started out their advertising careers as pitch men, Dominic and Isaac proved that becoming partners hadn’t robbed them of any of their earlier abilities. Even though Justin didn’t understand all of the finer details, he did know that it was a _very_ generous offer even when living expenses were factored in. Justin still remembered the insane prices he’d seen when he’d been looking for lofts for Brian the previous spring.

“Now I don’t expect you to make a decision right away,” Isaac said after they’d put in their dessert orders. “The two of you have a lot to discuss so let’s say that we schedule another meeting after the New Year to finalize everything.”

“What do you say, Sunshine?” Brian asked, glancing over at him. “Fancy another trip up here before you go back to school?”

“I have no problem with that,” Justin confirmed, grinning broadly. “Especially since you won’t be working and we can take in the city together during the day.”

“No, we’re not going on a museum torture tour,” Brian said automatically.

Isaac laughed quietly into his coffee cup. “Come now, Brian, where’s you sense of adventure?”

“It’s not his sense of adventure that I’m worried about,” Justin mumbled as he swirled his brownie around in its thick chocolately sauce. “It’s what he’ll do if he gets too bored while I’m taking in the art.”

Things wound down slowly after that. Desserts were consumed and conversations became casual again as final coffees were ordered. Justin listened avidly as Isaac gave his opinion on the New York museums, taking note of which ones to visit during his remaining time in the city. Now that moving was a possibility, Justin also wanted to take a look at some of the art programs available in the New York.

“If you don’t mind my asking, why was Kevin Horrenburg let go?” Brian asked casually as he stirred some sugar into his coffee.

“Horrenburg,” Dominic murmured, searching his memory for the information. “Ahh yes, Kevin Horrenburg. He lost us several key accounts and in the process millions of dollars. So as you can see, we had no choice but to let him go.”

“God, no wonder he’s been so psycho,” Justin mumbled, leaning back in his chair.

Brian kicked him lightly on the shin. “Did he knew about your plan to hire me in his place?”

Glancing at his partner briefly, Isaac nodded his head. “There was mention of your name at a meeting about a month back when we were discussing possible replacements for one of our executives who’s retiring in the spring. Why do you ask?”

“No particular reason,” Brian lied which earned him a kick from Justin. 

The only thing that kept Justin from commenting about that was the fact that Brian hadn’t officially gotten the job at Kennedy and Collins and Justin had no intention of being the reason that he didn’t get the job. Later, when they got back to the hotel, Justin was going to let Brian know exactly what he thought about his denial of everything Kevin had done over the past few days.

When they finally left the restaurant a short while later, Justin was wired. He could probably trace it back to that last cup of coffee he’d had, but a large part of it had to do with the simple fact that his life was just getting better and better. When he’d left Pittsburgh on Friday he’d been a plain old art student with a part-time job, weekly physical therapy sessions and the odd panic attack. Four days later he was all of that as well as someone’s husband and had prospects of moving one of the greatest art centers in the world.

“Let’s go dancing,” Justin requested as they made their way towards the Lexus. “We haven’t gone dancing in forever.”

“So that’s why you look like you’re about to explode,” Brian chuckled as he wound an around Justin’s shoulders, pulling the teen against his side.

Pressing himself against Brian, Justin grinned up at his lover. “Not quite, but you can believe that if you want to.”

When they got to the Lexus a few moments later, Brian spun Justin around, pinning him to the side of the car with his own body. Immediately, Justin was taken back in time seven months to the interior of a parking garage when Brian had done the exact same thing. At the exact same moment, Brian seemed to realize what he had done and pulled back slightly.

“No walking into the dark for the next few minutes, ‘kay,” Brian murmured against Justin’s forehead as he leaned back into the blonde. “Just stay here.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Justin promised him, having no desire to taking on a psycho with a bat in the near future.

Brian gave a shudder then pulled away, opening Justin’s door for him and standing guard until he was sure that Justin was safely seated in the luxury vehicle. Justin smiled broadly at him, trying to reassure him that he was fine and nothing was wrong. He watched Brian shake himself again before rushing around the front of the car and sliding into the driver’s seat.

The club that they ended up at was a down-sized version of Babylon with all of the brilliant lights and half naked mass of writhing bodies. Allowing Brian to lead the way, Justin snagged a finger though one of the belt loops on the other man’s pants to make sure that he didn’t get lost in the mob. It didn’t surprise him that, even in the close quarters, Brian found the space to spread his arms out and roll up his sleeves past his elbows.

Justin got only a few seconds of warning before Brian spun around, pulling him closer by his shirt front. “Hello again,” Justin grinned, lifting his right arm to drape over Brian’s shoulder. His left shoulder was still sore from being dislocated the day before so he just placed his left hand against Brian’s hip.

“We need to alter you a little bit,” Brian said as he began to unbutton the dark blue shirt Justin was wearing. One by one he unfastened each button, throwing the shirt open when he was finished. “That’s much better. No need to hide all that pale skin.”

Justin was all too aware of the bruises and scratches scattered across his torso, but resisted the urge to cover himself up. No one was going to be paying any attention to him anyway. Not when they had Brian to look at. So Justin kept the shirt the way it was, knowing that it would only be Brian who was looking at him.

In any event, after the first few songs, Justin wasn’t paying attention to anything but the thumping beat pounding through him with the occasionally interruption of Brian’s body pressing against his. Brian’s lips moving against the side of his head was equally distracting. Tossing his head back to give Brian better access to his throat, Justin wreaked some havoc of his own with his fingers at the base of Brian’s skull.

“So, what do you think of having this as our new playground?” Brian murmured as he dipped forward so that his forehead was resting against Justin’s.

Justin tilted his chin up just enough so that his lips brushed briefly against Brian’s. “I’m definitely open to the idea. What about you? Are you willing to give up your kingdom?”

“I’ve been bored with it for a while now,” Brian admitted, starling Justin who had never thought to hear those words from the older man’s mouth.

It was close to midnight when the pair finally got back to their hotel room. Dancing and half a dozen shots of Beam split between them left the pair giggling as they stumbled down the corridor towards their suite. The little old lady who had been there that first night was absent, but even if she had been there, it wouldn’t have stopped Justin from jumping up onto Brian’s back as his partner attempted to navigate the keycard into the computerized lock.

“You’re gonna make me fall flat on my face,” Brian snickered as he finally got the door unlocked. “Then you’re going to have to kiss it better.”

“Such a hardship,” Justin sighed dramatically, hanging on tightly as Brian staggered into the suite. Not wanting to be let down, Justin slammed the door shut as soon as it came within reach.

“You can kiss it anyway then,” Brian countered as Justin looped his right arm around Brian’s shoulders again.

It was nothing short of a miracle that they made it to the bedroom without sprawling in a heap on the floor. When he reached the bed, Brian spun around in order to dump Justin onto the bed. The artist fell easily onto his back, landing sprawled in all directions. He hadn’t buttoned his shirt back up before leaving the club so with only a bit of wiggling he was able to slide it off.

While Justin struggled with unfastening his pants, Brian stripped out of his clothes and ended up collapsing next to him as he fumbled to get his shoes off. Justin was giggling madly as he rolled over onto his stomach and sidled over to straddle Brian’s waist.

“You know,” Justin grinned, resting his chin on his folded hands which were resting on Brian’s chest, “if we move here, we don’t have to worry about any unexpected guests. Everyone else will be far _far_ away from us.”

Brian skimmed his hands along Justin sides then around to the small of his back before sliding down the back of his black slacks. “You just don’t want your mommy to see you bareassed.”

To punctuate that statement, Brian shoved Justin’s pants down to the tops of his thighs, revealing said ass. The wiggling required to work his pants all the way down, pulling Brian’s as well, had both of them trembling with something other than giggles. When they were both naked, Justin sat himself up on Brian’s thighs and began tracing absent patterns on his taut stomach.

“This is a very nice view,” Justin commented as his fingers moved in the direction of Brian’s swollen cock.

“So’s this one,” Brian said, his hands landed on Justin’s thighs. “But, I’ve had enough of just looking, I want to enjoy.”

“What a coincidence, so do I,” Justin grinned before lowering himself back on top of Brian.

Thankfully, Brian’s arms were long enough to reach the bedside table where they’d stashed the lube. Brian passed it up to him, but when Justin went to cover Brian’s dick with the liquidy gel, the brunette diverted his hand to his own cock. Justin tried to protest further, but Brian wrapped his hand around Justin’s to make sure that the lube went where he wanted it to go.

“You sure?” Justin murmured once all the necessary shuffling and moving around had been accomplished. “I mean....”

“Equal partnership, Sunshine,” was all that Brian gave in way of an answer.

Justin was floored by that simple statement. Three words. Three words that Justin had always thought of as more elusive than Brian’s much dreaded, “I love you.” Rationally, Justin knew that their relationship wasn’t completely equal. It couldn’t be when he was still in school and Brian was the one paying the bulk of their living expenses.

Rational thoughts were gone a few minutes later after he’d thoroughly lubed Brian’s hole and he was sliding his cock into that tight place that only his fingers and tongue had felt without a latex shield.

“Holy shit!” Justin cried out as just his cockhead slipped past the first ring of muscles. 

By the time he’d managed to inch the rest of his shaft into Brian’s ass, Justin could only gasp. He’d imagined so many times what it would be like to fuck Brian raw, but those thoughts could never equal what he was feeling at that moment. Justin couldn’t even find the words to use in his head to express what it felt like.

“Were you planning on moving at any time?” Brian moaned, shifting under him and bringing Justin back to the matter at hand.

“I don’t think I can.”

Rolling his eyes, Brian flexed some internal muscles which had Justin gasping. “I suggest you alter that thought, Sunshine.”

“Altering it now,” Justin saluted, barely able to repress another round of giggles.

Then Justin turned his focus back to all the physical sensations that making love to Brian produced. Being an artist, though, Justin couldn’t completely block out the visual. In his mind was would be forever burned the image of Brian’s face, flushed and gasping, as the two struggled towards climax. Watching every expression flit across Brian’s face held Brian’s attention so completely that his own climax caught him completely off guard.

A whole universe exploded behind his eyes and then reformed a few moments later when he locked eyes with Brian.


	12. Anything of Nothing

Scrubbing his hands over his face, Brian stared up at the shadowed ceiling. It was the middle of the night, but he couldn’t sleep. He desperately needed to because he had an early meeting, but he couldn’t convince his mind to shut down long enough for him to fall asleep. Brian rolled over onto his side, staring at Justin who was sleeping peacefully next to him, a slight smile curving his lips.

Reaching over, Brian lightly brushed Justin’s bangs away from his face, curious as to what the blonde was dreaming about. He wished that he could fall asleep as easily as Justin did. Or that he could manage to sleep more than a few odd hours.

“You’re too tense,” Justin mumbled sleepily, yawning loudly. “You need to cut down on all that caffeine if you want to get some descent sleep.”

“I sleep fine,” Brian protested as he pulled Justin’s unresisting body into his arms.

Justin slipped an arm around Brian’s waist, returning the embrace. “As someone who shares your bed, I’d like to tell you just how wrong you are. Now just close your eyes and relax.”

Doing as he was instructed, it wasn’t long before Brian felt fingers gently massaging his temple. Nimble fingers were a decided advantage of having a relationship with an artist. Before long, Brian felt himself relaxing completely into the mattress, sleep finally coming after several long hours of tossing and turning.

To Brian’s surprise it was light out the next time that he opened his eyes.

And he was alone in the bed.

“Justin...?” Brian called as he sat up.

When he received no answer, Brian climbed out of the bed and made his way out into the main room of the suite. Still Justin was nowhere to be seen. Brian was getting concerned and was about to go back into the bedroom to throw on some jeans and a tee when the front door opened and Justin came in pushing a cart.

“You’re not supposed to be awake yet,” Justin accused, grinning slightly as he moved further into the suite. “I was going to surprise you.”

“Well that’s certainly ominous,” Brian smirked, foregoing his earlier plan to pull on some jeans and instead stretched himself out on the chaise.

Justin rolled his eyes as he crossed over to the chaise. “It’s not that bad. But I know you have issues with breakfast and this seemed like the best way to get you to eat.”

Knowing that there would be no point in arguing, Brian simply watched as Justin set up the cart next to the chaise. There were two covered plates on the cart and as soon as Justin lifted the lid, Brian knew exactly who belonged to which one. The orange juice, bacon, eggs, sausage and waffles with whipped cream and syrup could only be Justin’s while the other plate had a selection of fruits, cottage cheese and a toasted buttered bagel with a large cup of coffee belonged to the ad exec.

“So do you approve of my selection?” Justin asked as he straddled the opposite end of the chaise, tossing a cloth napkin onto Brian’s naked crotch.

Taking the hint, Brian spread the white cotton over his lap before reaching for the his breakfast. “I think that you are entirely too romantic, Sunshine, but I’ll learn to live with it.”

“Brat,” Justin grinned affectionately as he swirled his finger in the whipped cream on top of his waffles. “Besides, you know that secretly you’re dying to have some of these waffles. Admit it.”

“I do not,” Brian chuckled, trying his best to keep his expression sarcastic rather than amused. “Unlike you, I can’t eat everything I want and not gain an ounce. And if the food gods have any sort of compassion they’ll be kicking you in the ass very soon.”

Justin pretended to be shocked, placing a hand behind him, touching the top of his rear. “It’s not nice to insult your favourite piece of my anatomy.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Brian deadpanned, reaching for a grape and popping it into his mouth.

The pair ate in companionable silence, sharing bits of their meals with each other. Brian knew that there was a lot they needed to talk about, but he didn’t want to ruin the meal. He wanted to enjoy the rare moment of peace, knowing full well that it wouldn’t last long. In only a short while they would be back in the Pitts and have to deal with the rest of the gang finding out about their “marriage.” Brian didn’t even want to think about what their reaction would be when they found out about the high possibility that they would be moving to New York. Vic and Emmett were still very protective of Justin and would be as likely to let him leave Pittsburgh permanently as Jennifer and Deb.

In the end, though, it wasn’t up to them. It was up to him and Justin.

“So I was thinking,” Justin murmured as he smeared a piece bacon in the remnants of the syrup on his plate, “maybe you should leave your laptop behind so I can start looking over real-estate listings.”

Even though he didn’t want to be, Brian was caught off guard by Justin’s request. “You want to look for places to live in New York?”

Justin nodded his head while he swallowed the bacon still in his mouth. “Sure. I mean, we are going to move here next month, aren’t we?”

“We are?” Brian questioned, arching an eyebrow. “I wasn’t aware that we’d made the decision to move here.”

“So, we’re not?”

“I didn’t say that,” Brian countered as he plucked a strawberry from his tray and popped it into his mouth.

“So we are moving to New York?”

“I didn’t say that, either.”

Justin let out a frustrated growl, snatched a piece of fruit from Brian’s tray and launched it at the ad exec. “Then what are you saying? Are we or are we not moving to New York?”

Brian shrugged, leaning back against the upraised part of the chaise. “I don’t know. We haven’t discussed that yet.”

“What’s to discuss?” Justin demanded, staring at Brian as though he’d grown a second head. “We have the chance to move to New York just like I know you’ve always wanted. It’s also tied for first of the places I want to live at some point. Paris is the other, in case you wanted to know.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Brian murmured, grabbing hold of Justin’s right hand and pulling it onto his lap, massaging his palm. “What about your family? Are you ready to leave the gang behind right now? Your mom? Molly? You won’t have Daphne, either. It’ll just be the two of us. Are you ready for that?”

“I’ve been ready for that since day one,” Justin grinned, squeezing Brian’s fingers. At Brian’s arched eyebrow he amended his statement. “Fine, maybe not day one, but definitely a lot longer than you.”

Brian continued to play with Justin’s fingers. “I’ll leave my laptop behind so that you can look at loft listing-- _loft_ \--but we still have to talk about this seriously because this is a lot bigger now that it’s the two of us.”

Seeing Justin glancing towards the remnants of his breakfast, Brian released his hand so that he could reach his plate without getting food all over the cast on his left hand forearm. No longer very hungry, Brian left the rest of his meal to Justin while he went to shower and get dressed for the full day of meetings he had.

By the time Brian got out of the shower, Justin was finishing off the last half of his bagel which looked to be smeared in syrup and had a strip of bacon on top of it. Brian shuddered at the sight of it as he crossed over to the chaise to drink the last of his coffee.

“See if you can find any places that looks halfway descent,” Brian said as he set his coffee cup down on the cart. “All open space except I want a room for Gus when he visits.”

“But Gus is still a baby. He won’t need his own room for a while yet,” Justin countered, scratching absently at his forehead.

Brian shrugged his shoulders, picking his briefcase up off the ground. “If we move here, I only want to move the once. It’s a hassle that I don’t enjoy.”

“Except when it means you get to buy new furniture,” Justin smirked.

Brian glared at Justin momentarily before leaning over to press a kiss to the blonde’s forehead. “Be good, Sunshine, and I’ll bring you a present.”

“Tease,” Justin grinned, grabbing hold of Brian’s tie and pulling him back down for a kiss.

Brian made the kiss a dramatic one, ending it with a loud, smacking noise. “I’ll be back around five. Behave yourself.”

With that, Brian made a hasty retreat from the suite so that he wouldn’t be tempted to stay longer. He still had a lot of catching up to do if he wanted to be able to head home to the Pitts with Justin on Sunday. Brian’s steps faltered slightly at that stray thought. Pittsburgh wouldn’t be their home for much longer. A few weeks, a month at best, and New York would be there new home.

There was only one thing that he would need to make the move perfect.

“So, Cynthia, how are you liking the city?” Brian asked as he stepped into the elevator with his assistant.

“I like it fine, Brian,” the blonde asked with an arched eyebrow. “Why are you asking?”

Brian shrugged absently, scrubbing absently at the back of his head. “So then you wouldn’t be opposed to moving here next month?”

“Woah! Back it up, Kinney! Move to New York?” Cynthia hissed, grabbing hold of Brian’s upper arm.

“Are you hard of hearing?”

“Asshole! Answer the damn question. Did you just ask me if I wanted to move to New York?” Cynthia repeated, squeezing Brian’s arms for emphasis. “This New York? Not just the state in general? Brian, what the fuck are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the job offer I got last night from Kennedy and Collins,” Brian revealed, unable to suppress a grin at Cynthia’s excited squeal. “I’ll be a senior executive with an option to buy into the partnership in a few years time. The only problem is that I’ll need an assistant and you know I don’t trust anyone but you to keep my affairs in order.”

Cynthia began to giggle at the last statement, finally releasing Brian’s arm. “You’d better not let Justin hear you say that or he’d have your balls in a vice grip if he thought you were cheating on him.”

“Aren’t we mature,” Brian sneered, sticking his tongue out just enough to be visible.

“Pot. Kettle. Black, my dear Mr. Kinney,” Cynthia snorted in amusement. “So tell me about this job offer.”

The elevator reached the designated floor and Brian gave Cynthia a brief run-down of the Kennedy and Collins’ job offer. There was no need to tell her that the information was just to stay between the two of them. If any of the Vanguard people on the trip found out about the job offer and sent word back to Vance, the older man would make things incredibly difficult for Brian.

“You still haven’t answer my question, Cyn,” Brian prompted as they reached the conference room.

“Let’s see.... Do I want to stay in Pittsburgh and be pursued by a bunch of grubby steel workers or move to New York where I can ogle the pretty boys?” Cynthia asked rhetorically, earning a glare from her boss. “Come on, Brian! Like you even have to ask!”

“Good, ‘cause I’d hate to have to replace you,” Brian smirked at Cynthia’s smug look. “It took me long enough to find someone who could make a descent up of coffee.”

Cynthia rolled her eyes. “Love you too. So what does Justin think of the move? Or rather, what do his mommies think of it?”

Brian groaned at that. He definitely wasn’t looking forward to informing Jennifer and Deb about their imminent move away from Pittsburgh. His surrogate mother would have him by the balls for stealing her favourite little busboy and the soccer mom would murder him for even considering moving her baby out of state. It wouldn’t matter to them that Justin was a grown man and capable of making decisions himself.

Not that either of them would ever admit to it. Both women would come up with some reason to keep Justin in Pittsburgh even when he had every reason to leave.

“So if you boys move here, are you going to make those pretty little rings of yours legal?” Cynthia asked as the two of them began to set up for their first meeting.

“No,” Brian snorted, amused by the very idea. “We’re as married as we’re ever going to be.”

“But what if Justin wants more?” Cynthia prompted, arching an eyebrow.

Brian stared at her in confusion. “Why would Justin want more? We’re married. Sure we don’t have some cheesy document proclaiming the fact, but we’re still stuck with each other for life.”

“Well what about a ceremony?”

“We had one,” Brian informed her. “Saturday morning.”

“And other than the two of you was anyone involved in this ceremony?” his assistant inquired, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared over at him.

“We didn’t need anyone else.”

The look from Cynthia told him exactly what she thought about that. Luckily, their clients were entering then and she couldn’t chastise him for his lack of romantic tendencies. Brian was tempted to get Justin on the phone during lunch just so he could tell his doubting assistant just how romantic he could. The only downfall was that Cynthia would know just how much of a non-asshole he could be.

Brian did end up calling Justin at lunch, but it was to see if he could con his husband into meeting him at a restaurant halfway been their hotel and where he was.

“What’s in it for me?” Justin grinned into the phone.

Rolling his eyes, Brian switched his cell phone from one ear to the other. “You won’t know that if you don’t come.”

“Don’t I even get a hint?”

Despite himself, Brian could feel a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “You’ll just have to rely on your own natural curiosity, Sunshine.”

“Fine,” Justin sighed dramatically. “What’s the name of the restaurant.”

Fifteen minutes later, Brian entered the small Thai restaurant to find Justin waiting for him in a table in the back of the restaurant. Even with all of the bruising still on his face and throat, Justin was still as stunning as ever.

“Hey, babe,” Brian said, leaning over to kiss Justin before sliding into the seat on the other side of the small round table.

“Hi,” Justin chirped, his smile growing at the endearment. “You’re certainly in a good mood. I take it you talked Cynthia into moving to New York to baby-sit you.”

“She’s not my baby-sitter,” Brian scowled, tossing a packet of sugar at the blonde. “She’s my assistant.”

“There’s a difference?”

Under the table, Brian nudged Justin’s foot with his own. “Smart ass.”

“You love me anyway,” Justin grinned, wrapping his left foot around Brian’s leg. “Oh! I found some _really_ great lofts this morning that we should go look at this week if we’re not still pretending that moving to New York isn’t an option.”

“It’s an option,” Brian confirmed with a slight nod. “And we’ll go look at the lofts on the weekend. Just make the appointments with the agents.”

Brian was genuinely shocked at just how easy the decision to move to New York had been. Barely twelve hours after the offer had been made, they had both knew that they were moving. There were still a lot of technical things that needed to be figured out, such as Justin’s transfer to a school in the city and Brian’s resignation from Vanguard, but the move was going to happen.

“This is going to be okay, right?” Justin asked after they’d placed their orders with the waitress. “We’re going to be okay?”

“We’ll be fine.”


	13. Anything of Nothing

“Do we really have to go?” Justin sighed as he slumped down on the bed, absently playing with his ring. “Can’t we just stay here for a while longer?”

“Our plane leaves in three hours, so no,” Brian smirked, loading the their toiletry bags into one of the suitcases. “Besides, your mothers will have my head if I don’t bring you home tonight.”

“Don’t forget, Bri, my mom is your mom now,” Justin chuckled, earning him a glare from his husband.

Brian groaned loudly and sat down next to Justin, stretching himself out next to the blonde. “There aren’t any other ‘just married’ things that I have to worry about?”

“You mean besides the fact that your name is Brian Taylor now?” Justin deadpanned, staring up at the ceiling rather than at Brian so that he wouldn’t be tempted to burst out laughing.

“What?!” Brian cried, shooting to his feet. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“That I went down to city hall yesterday to find out what I needed to do to change our names,” Justin informed his frantic husband. “There’s some papers in my bag. I was thinking that instead of going with the whole hyphenated thing we could just change our last names. You’d be Brian Taylor and I’d be Justin Kinney.”

For several long second, Brian just stared down at the blonde as though he were an alien. Justin also managed to maintain a straight face during that entire time. However, when he saw Brian’s expression begin to alter from shock to anger, Justin knew he needed to call a halt to his little mind fuck.

“I’m not insane, Bri,” Justin snorted, nudging Brian with his foot. “There are no papers. The only thing I did yesterday afternoon was go to a few small galleries. We won’t be changing our names.”

Brian glared at Justin for almost a full minute before pouncing on the blonde. Justin let out a startled cry and had to restrain himself from bringing his limbs up in a defensive posture. Instead he trusted Brian not to squash him and wound his arms around the taller man’s shoulders, holding him close. Brian immediately relaxed overtop of him, molding his body against Justin’s while managing to somehow keep from resting his full weight on the blonde.

“As nice a diversion as this is, we still need to finish packing,” Brian said against his forehead.

“No,” Justin mumbled, tightening his hold on Brian’s shoulders. “We’re going to stay right here. Not going home.”

“If I didn’t know any better, Sunshine, I’d think that you didn’t want to endure whatever celebration Deb and Emmett have ordered us to,” Brian chuckled as he began to extract himself from Justin’s hold.

Surprised, Justin’s head shot up, nearly cracking his forehead against Brian’s. “What party? Why wasn’t I told about a party?”

“Because Deb just called while you were in the shower and I haven’t had time to tell you yet,” Brian informed him, finally managing to stand back up. “Now get your bubble butt in gear. I want to be checking out of here in fifteen minutes.”

Pouting, Justin slid off the bed that he and Brian had gotten married on. They had exchanged vows in the same spot they had been lying a few moments before. Justin wasn’t foolish enough to think that Brian was the least bit sentimental about things like that, but he was. He wanted to come to this hotel, that suite in particular, year after year for the rest of their lives.

Of course with Brian, Justin knew that such a thing was highly unlikely. He didn’t think that they’d ever set foot in that room again once they checked out. It would be okay, though, because Justin had no intentions of ever forgetting what had happened. It wouldn’t be like their dance at the prom.

As per Brian’s decree, fifteen minutes later they were in the elevator on their way down to the lobby. A bellboy who was not the persistent redhead that had plagued them for most of their stay had been by a few minutes before to pick up their luggage and it was now just a matter of checking out of the hotel. Then they would drive to the airport, hand over the Lexus to the rental agency and deal with all of the security precautions so that they could fly back home and once again deal with everyday life.

“I’m gonna miss New York,” Justin sighed as the plane began taxiing down the runway in preparation for take off. “This was the best trip I’ve ever been on.”

Brian stared over at him with an arched eyebrow. “In case you forgot, you had a very intimate meeting with the front end of a Porsche. That hardly makes for a good vacation.”

With a slight smile on his face, Justin traced a fingertip over the little stick figure Brian had drawn on his cast. In a little thought bubble next to the little man was written, “Don’t play in traffic. I want you safe.” Underneath the little stick man, Brian had added in block letters, “I want you around for a long time.” Justin had been shocked to see that at first, but according to Brian he could just claim that Justin had written it because no one would believe that he was that sentimental.

“I may have got a little bumped around, but nothing can take away from last weekend,” Justin murmured, leaning against Brian’s side. “No one’s ever promised me forever.”

“I think the altitude’s messing with your head,” Brian snorted, nudging the top of Justin’s head with his chin.

“Which would be true if we’d actually taken off,” Justin pointed out.

The flight was so short that Brian insisted there was on point in inducting Justin into the Mile High Club; that they would barely be able to get started before landing. Justin dutifully sulked and made Brian promise to take him somewhere that would get him inducted to the not quite exclusive club.

It was also foolish for him to even consider that the rest of the family knew nothing about his and Brian’s union. Not after Debbie had found out. They’d be lucky if they got back to the loft without someone bombarding them. Thankfully the jeep was in long term parking at the airport so they didn’t have to worry about someone meeting them at the airport. All they had to do was gather up their luggage, load up the jeep and go home and rechristen the loft as a married couple.

Apparently their luck ran out a lot quicker than anticipated because waiting just outside of the baggage claim were the mothers. Jennifer and Debbie were practically bouncing up and down as they glanced around the crowd, searching the crowd for them.

“What do you think our chances are of getting out of here without them noticing us?” Brian murmured in his ear as he slipped the strap of his carry-on over his shoulder.

“Brian! Sunshine!” Debbie shrieked, gaining the attention of just about everyone in the terminal.

Justin snorted, nudging Brian’s chin with his temple. “I think we’ve been discovered. Better just face the music.”

Brian groaned dramatically and dropped his forehead onto Justin’s shoulder. “Save me.”

They had barely managed to advance another five feet before they were surrounded by the air of overbearing mothers. Justin immediately plastered a huge smile on his face, knowing how worried his mother had been over the past week. The smile was entirely fake, but it was what Jennifer needed even though it was the last thing Justin wanted. His mother needed to let go, let him live his life. He was a grown man, married even, but to his mother he would always be a little boy.

“I’m fine, mom,” Justin insisted as she began patting his body down in search of any new damage. “Mom! Stop it. I don’t need a full body search. Brian’s already assured himself that I’m fine and he has more of a stake in my body than you do.”

A part of Justin wanted to be ashamed of himself for the horrified expression that he put on his mother’s face, but he couldn’t be. Jennifer needed to know that she couldn’t control him any longer. She was his mother, not his guardian.

“Look, I really appreciate the two of you meeting us here, but I’m exhausted and I’m pretty sure Brian is too. We both just want to go home and get some sleep,” Justin pleaded, giving his mother and Debbie his patented puppy dog look that had gotten him his way many a time.

“Sure thing, Sunshine,” Debbie agreed immediately. “But I expect the two of you at the diner for breakfast tomorrow morning.”

After promising Debbie that they’d be at the diner the next morning, the two were allowed to leave on their own. However, they were escorted out of the airport by the two women who wanted to know all of the details of their remaining days in New York. Since the job offer was Brian’s news, Justin didn’t bring it up. However, neither did the other man. Knowing the other man the way he did, Justin was sure that he had something planned for his revelation. He wouldn’t be Brian Kinney if he didn’t.

“You’re not really exhausted, Sunshine. You lied to your mommy,” Brian chuckled as he started up the jeep. “Is there any particular reason why you wanted us to be by ourselves at home?”

Justin shrugged absently. “I haven’t quite decided yet.”

“That so?”

“That’s so,” Justin confirmed, grinned broadly.

It was no shock to Justin when he realized that Brian was driving quite quickly through the early evening streets of Pittsburgh. Simply being in Pittsburgh again caught Justin off guard. It seemed like a lifetime since they’d last been in the Pitts together instead of the two weeks it actually had been. When he’d left a week ago, he’d been plain old Justin Taylor. Now he was Justin Taylor, partner of Brian Kinney. He didn’t have to worry about when the other foot would drop and he’d be told that he had to move out of the loft. It was his home... for the next few weeks at least.

“I’m gonna miss the loft,” Justin murmured as he and Brian rode up in the elevator. “I really love this place.”

“And I’m sure you’ll love whatever place we find in New York,” Brian informed him, slipping an arm across Justin’s shoulders. “Besides, all of the necessary parts will come with us.”

“Even I know that you’re not talking about the two of us,” Justin smirked, leaning up against his lover. “But I do hope that you’re talking about the blue lights.”

“My wardrobe, actually, but those too,” Brian confirmed, setting Justin’s mind at ease about his favourite accessory in the loft.

As tacky as they had the ability to be, Justin adored the blue lights. They always made him feel so calm and relaxed. It was also the easiest way to transport a part of the loft with them when they moved to New York.

In that moment, it started to become real for Justin. He and Brian were moving to New York. The loft would be gone, their family would be hundreds of miles away and it would just be the two of them alone in a massive city. He couldn’t simply run away to Debbie’s or his mom’s when things with Brian got to be too much for him. The two of them would have to stick it out, especially once Justin committed to an art school in New York.

“Home sweet home,” Brian announced once the elevator came to a stop at the top floor.

Justin began gathering luggage up off the ground while Brian opened the grate. Thankfully, Brian had thought it best to leave most of the suits he’d bought in New York with the tailor who was altering them to fit Brian’s sleek frame. There were a few that Brian hadn’t been able to part with that had made the journey back, but their load was a lot less than it could have been.

“Are you going to carry me over the threshold?” Justin teased as he exited the elevator. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Brian having a silent stand off with an older woman. “Umm... hi.” 

“Justin, come meet your mother-in-law,” Brian murmured without taking his eyes off the grey-haired woman.

“What is Claire doing married to a little boy?” she asked Brian, denying what was obviously happening.

At Brian’s side, Justin noticed how incredibly tensed the other man was and set one of his bags down so that he could place his right hand on Brian’s hip. Almost imperceptibly, Brian leaned into his hand, his body relaxing somewhat.

Brian heaved a loud, resigned sigh, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Justin, this is my mom, Joan Kinney. Mom, I’d like you to meet Justin Taylor. My husband.”

Justin’s only free hand was occupied on Brian’s hip and he had no intention of taking away that support to offer a hand to the woman who was staring at him as though he were a squashed bug.

“Husband?!” the woman growled, turning a very lethal glare on her son. “You’re a sodomite?”

“If you wanna use that term, fine,” Brian muttered, looking away. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, we just got back in town and we’re kinda tired so can we do this another time?”

Glaring, Joan moved to block their paths to the loft, crossing her arms over her chest. “You are going to come with me, Brian. We are going to go to my church and pray for your salvation. Pray that you will no longer be an abomination to God.”

“I am _not_ an abomination,” Brian stated, his voice cracking slightly in the middle.

Joan opened her mouth to say something else, but Justin darted in front of Brian silencing her before she could even form the first syllable. “What the hell kind of mother do you think you are? Brian is _not_ an abomination. He fucking saved my life. He is the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I’m glad that he is exactly the way he is. So don’t you fucking _dare_ call him an abomination.”

“Brian, are you going to let that boy talk to me like this?” Joan demanded of her son, her eyes fixed at a point over Justin’s head, most likely at Brian’s face.

“Brian doesn’t control what I do,” Justin informed the bitter woman. “He lets me be exactly who I want to be, the same thing you should learn to do. I’m still amazed that Brian turned out the way he did being raised in by you and your husband. Hell, I’m amazed that he didn’t turn out to be some anti-social serial killer.”

This time Joan caught Justin off guard, smacking him hard across the cheek. “How dare you, young man. You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I know that you’re a hateful old woman who has no idea who her son is,” Justin shot back.

Joan’s hand was raised a second time, but Brian quickly pulled Justin back behind him, facing down his mother. “I want you to leave now, mother. You never wanted to be a part of my life so now I’m just going to enforce it from my side. Leave. Don’t come back and don’t send Claire to act as a peacemaker because I won’t listen to her.”

“You ungrateful sinner,” Joan hissed, taking a step back as though she had been struck. “I carried you to term even though my your father wanted me to abort you.”

“I don’t care. Leave,” Brian ground out. From behind, Justin could see that Brian was trembling and placed both hands on his hips, steadying him.

Several tense moments passed, but then Joan turned and gracefully made her way down the stairs without so much as a sound. For his part, Justin released a loud breath and dropped his forehead against Brian’s back between his shoulder blades as he slid his arms around Brian’s waist, hugging him from behind.

“You okay?” he murmured into Brian’s leather jacket, giving his waist a quick squeeze.

“Been better,” Brian sighed, leaning back against Justin. “Can you grab the rest of the stuff? I want to grab a shower.”

Justin nodded his head and unwound his arms, stepping back so that Brian could move towards the door. Justin stayed where he was, watching Brian as he went about unlocking the door and punching in the security code. He wanted to be able to do something to make his husband feel better about the situation with his mother, but knew that there was nothing he could really do.

Deciding to give Brian some time to center himself, after he’d moved all of the luggage into the loft, he went about sorting through the mail they’d picked up downstairs and checked the answering machine. Still, he kept glancing towards the upper portion of the loft where the bedroom and bathroom were. He was tempted to follow the trail of clothes leading into the bathroom, but kept his distance.

Not wanting to let Joan get the better of their first night back at the loft, Justin quickly, but quietly, went about setting up the bedroom to seduce his husband. He wanted to distract Brian for at least a little while and knowing Brian the way he did sex was the best way to do that.

When the shower was turned off seven minutes later, Justin was lying sprawled naked under the blue lights, a few votive candles spread around the room more for their calming scent than their light. He knew that the cuts and bruises and especially the cast were a kind of detractor, but when Brian appeared in the doorway, his thoughts were instantly contradicted.

Silently, Brian crossed the short distance between them and crawled across the bed so that he was holding himself up directly overtop of Justin. “Hey there, Sunshine.”

“Hey there, yourself,” Justin grinned back, reaching his right hand up to lightly stroke Brian’s damp chest. “Feeling any better?”

Brian’s response was to spread himself out overtop of Justin, blanketing the smaller for with his own. He pressed his face into Justin’s shoulder and let out a single, shuddering breath and stilled. It was several minutes before Justin realized that Brian was sound asleep. Turning his head, Justin brushed his lips against Brian’s forehead before relaxing himself as he drifted off to sleep as well.


	14. Anything of Nothing

Brian was very tempted to throw something heavy at the alarm clock when it went off the next morning. The only problem was that there wasn’t anything nearby that was heavy enough to sufficiently crush the alarm clock. He also didn’t want to wake Justin up since the teen didn’t have to get up yet. So Brian reluctantly dragged himself out of bed, shutting the alarm off before he made his way into the bathroom.

“Where are you going?” Justin’s sleepy voice called after him.

Pausing in the doorway, Brian glanced back at blonde who was fumbling in the cocoon of blankets he’d wrapped himself in. Eventually a head poked out from the top and a pair of blue eyes landed on him. Then out came the cast-encased left hand, complete with waggling fingers. One of which wore the platinum ring that was on his own left hand.

“I’m having a shower. One of us actually has to go in to work today,” Brian reminded his husband.

“Which means that you get a safe card from the gang,” Justin grumbled, burying his head under his pillow. A second later, that head reappeared as Justin sat himself up, the blankets pooling around his waist. “Wait for me. We promised Debbie we’d be at the diner this morning.”

While Justin untangled himself from the duvet and the sheets beneath, Brian made his way into the kitchen to get one of the white garbage bags and some masking tape to cover the cast so that Justin could take a shower without damaging it. For at least the next three weeks, the plastic bags would be an unwanted necessity. Considering what could have happened when Justin had been caught out in traffic, Brian was somewhat relieved that he’d only broken his arm. 

Brian was just about to head back towards the bathroom, booty in hand, when he caught sight of a large canvass out of the corner of his eye. Setting the bag and tape on the desk, Brian crossed over to the far wall where Justin’s latest painting was propped up between two windows.

Right away he knew that it was him.

It was very muddled and hazy, but mixed in with all the dark swirls of colour, Brian could see himself. 

“Brian, did you get lost?” Justin called from the bathroom.

Staring at the painting for a few seconds longer, Brian quickly gathered up the supplies and made his way into the bathroom. He did his best to focus his attention on waterproofing Justin’s cast, but his mind was continuously drawn back to the painting near his computer. He could remember Justin saying something about a painting he was working on for a show at the beginning of the next semester so that explained the painting, but as for its content....

“You feeling okay?” Justin asked, lifting his right hand to Brian’s cheek. “You seem really out of it.”

“Haven’t had my morning coffee yet,” Brian hedged, not wanting to bring up the painting just yet. If he was right, it would bring up some truths that he wasn’t quite ready to face then, if ever.

“You really shouldn’t drink so much coffee,” Justin chastised as he moved his hand up to push Brian’s now wet bangs away from his eyes.

Brian rolled his eyes dramatically and grabbed Justin solidly around the waist, spinning him around so that it was the blonde who now stood under the jet of water. “We are _not_ having this discussion again,” Brian said emphatically, leaning in close to Justin so that their foreheads were pressed together. “Besides, I’ll give up coffee when you give up pizza.”

“Pizza contains all of the main food groups,” Justin attempted to defend himself, grinning up at Brian. At the brunette’s knowing look, Justin bobbed his head from side to side. “Okay, fine. I won’t mention it again.”

“Smart boy,” Brian smirked, leaning in for a kiss.

Due to time constraints they had to settle for some joint fondling if they were going to put in any type of appearance at the diner. If it had been up to him, Brian would have forwent breakfast with the gang in favour of some more alone time with Justin. Of course he knew that he’d never live it down if he didn’t show up to a royal summons from Liberty Avenue’s most notorious fag hag.

In their rush to get out, the painting was ignored. At least by Justin. Brian wasn’t sure if he’d be able to get it out of his head until he knew for sure what the painting was about. The only problem was that he didn’t have the guts to bring it up.

Even now, after he’d promised Justin forever, he didn’t think he could bring up his lover’s time in the hospital. It was a time in his life that Brian wanted desperately to erase from his mind. He didn’t want to remember watching Justin’s lifeless form lying in an ever increasing pool of his own blood or the tense days that followed. When they’d finally been told, after three days, that Justin was stable and that it was just a matter of waiting for the teen to wake up, Brian had nearly passed out. At the time he’d blamed it on not having slept since the night before the prom, but even then he’d known that it was relief. Joy, even. Until then he’d been terrified that he would lose Justin.

Having visual evidence that Justin knew about his nightly vigils at his bedside threw Brian for a loop.

He could only hope that the image was just one of those rare flashes that Justin got rather than an actual memory. If it was just a flash then he could attempt to convince Justin that it was part of a dream and that he hadn’t really been at the hospital night after night, standing guard over him as he slept.

“You’re still really quiet,” Justin pointed as they rode in the elevator down to the main floor of the building. “It doesn’t have anything to do with last night, does it?”

Brian shook his head honestly. “No. Last night was... last night. I’m just a bit wiped. No big deal.”

Justin didn’t look convinced, but kept silent. Instead he pressed himself against Brian’s side as they continued their descent to the main floor. Brian glanced down at him for a moment, staring at the top of his head, before winding an arm around his shoulders and pulling him even closer. He could still remember when Justin had needed that type of contact in order to simply walk down the sidewalk.

“Think you can drive the jeep with that cast on your arm?” Brian asked as they were exiting the building.

“And why would I be driving the jeep?” he asked coyly, a wide grin splitting his face.

“Because someone needs to restock the fridge and I know you’re going to want to go show off your ring to Daphne. It’s just easier if you have the jeep since it would just be sitting in my parking spot at Ryder all day,” Brian answered practically.

The blonde was practically bouncing up and down as Brian dangled the keys in front of him.

“But I want your word that you’re going to behave,” Brian continued, snatching the keys away just before Justin was able to grab hold of them. “There will be no speeding, no rolling stops and you’ll shift when you’re supposed to. And if there’s so much as a scratch on it....”

“You worry too much,” Justin smirked as he snatched the keys from Brian’s lax grip.

“With you I don’t think I worry enough,” Brian grumbled as they crossed the street to where the jeep was parked.

The drive to the diner wasn’t a very long one, but it was enough for Brian’s stress level to skyrocket as he was forced into the passenger seat of his own violation. He knew that he needed to start letting Justin into his life more if they stood any chance of lasting the forever they’d promised each other, but the very thought of making himself vulnerable to anyone else terrified him. The only problem was that Justin knew that he’d trusted Michael with all sorts of secrets. True, Michael had lived a lot of it with him, but it didn’t take away from the fact that it should have been Justin he was sharing it all with which was what he planned on doing from that point on.

“See, that wasn’t so bad,” Justin grinned as he pulled up in front of the diner. “We both got here in one piece and no harm was done to your beloved jeep.”

“That’s because I’m here to baby-sit you,” Brian deadpanned before sliding out of the jeep. He waited for Justin to cross around the front of the vehicle to here he was standing before moving towards the diner’s entrance. “There’s no telling what you’ll do once you drop me off.”

Justin whacked him with his left hand, the cast adding extra force to the playful smack. “Will you calm down! I’m not going to damage your precious jeep.”

The entire way over, Brian had been hoping that none of the gang would be at the diner. He knew that it was unlikely, but he’d wanted to keep his impromptu marriage to Justin a secret a little longer. The instant that the others found out, Brian knew that it would only get worse. They’d be butting in, giving advice when it wasn’t wanted and just generally being a pain.

“Oh, baby, look at you,” Emmett cooed as the pair neared their usual booth. “I hope they arrested that bastard who ran you down.”

“I’m the one who ran out in front of him,” Justin corrected the older man.

When the hug began to last a little too long for Brian’s liking, he latched onto the back of Justin’s shirt and began to tug him backwards. Feeling the motion, Justin began to back up so that Brian was able to wind his arms around the teen’s waist.

“Hands off,” Brian growled as he slid his hands up to rest on Justin’s stomach.

“What are those?”

Pretending that he hadn’t heard Emmett’s question, Brian unwound himself from around Justin and slid into the booth next to Ted. “Hey, Mikey. Theodore.”

“So you’re acknowledging me now?” Michael snarked, glaring at him from the other side of the table. “I haven’t heard from you in over a week except to get hung up on.”

“You just kept calling at bad times,” Brian said evenly, subtly pulling Justin against his side. “It was a business trip.”

Michael scowled at the two of them as he slumped against the back of the booth. “Then why was Justin there?” 

“Yes, I’m quite curious about that myself?” Emmett drawled, leaning forward with his elbows on the table. “Especially with those shiny new accessories you’re both wearing.”

“It’s the newlyweds!”

At that moment, Brian was really wishing that he’d gone straight to the office. He didn’t feel like having the whole of Liberty Avenue know that their greatest stud was now a gelded stud.

“Newlyweds? The great Brian Kinney is a newlywed?” Ted smirked, chuckling quietly. “Guess there means there’s finally a chance for someone else to get laid.”

Brian rolled his eyes in Justin’s direction then nodded towards Emmett who was sobbing dramatically just as he’d predicted over a week ago.

While Brian pretended to be all right with the entire diner finding out about his marriage, inside he was already plotting out what he needed to do in order to maintain at least some semblance of his former status. Ways that didn’t involve fucking his way through the entire clientele of Babylon. It was what he normally would have done, but it wasn’t an option now that he and Justin were doing it raw. No matter what, Brian didn’t want to put Justin in danger and he definitely didn’t want to force them back a step in their relationship.

“You’re doing it again,” Justin murmured as he nudged him with his shoulder. “Drink your coffee and wake up. You have a meeting this morning.”

“What in the hell?!”

Pursing his lips, Brian turned to his supposed best friend who he already knew was going to ruin things for him. So he just ignored Michael and reached for the coffee that Justin was sliding in his direction then loading it up with sugar to make it palatable. He also snagged a strip of bacon from Justin’s plate when the blonde wasn’t paying attention.

“What on earth would make you want to marry him?” Michael huffed, obviously put out at being ignored. “He’s just a trick who stayed too long.”

“Hey!”

“Michael!”

Brian’s response was to glare at the other man, not dignifying his comment with one of his own. Instead, he turned to Justin, nodding his head towards the counter. “Go have Deb pack your food up to go. We need to get going if I’m going to get to my meeting in time.”

It was an outright lie, but Brian didn’t care. At the moment he couldn’t stand being near Michael. It shouldn’t bother him-- it was just the way Michael was --but Brian was sick of it. He didn’t think it was too far fetched an idea for his best friend to be happy that he’d found someone to spend the rest of his life with.

“Yeah, sure,” Justin murmured, sliding out of the booth and making the way towards the counter with his plate in hand. “I’m getting you some breakfast too.”

Normally Brian would have protested, claiming that he’d just have Cynthia get him something once he was at work, but that time didn’t. There was no need to for him to cause further conflict in an already stressful morning. Not when he could just as easily toss the breakfast when he got to work if it was unacceptable.

“Brian, you didn’t answer my question,” Michael called from over in the booth. “I thought you said that you would never get married. That it was just for breeders and lesbians.”

“I also thought you were my friend. I guess we were both wrong,” Brian sighed, meeting Michael’s eyes for a brief moment before stalking out of the diner.

There was dead silence chasing his exit.

Brian shuddered as stepped out into the chilled morning air. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets, cursing under his breath when he realized that Justin was the one with the keys. So instead he was left to pace next to the jeep while he waited for his bottomless pit to make his way over.

“Brian!” Michael shouted from the direction of the diner. “Brian!”

“Go away, Michael,” Brian ground out, refusing to turn around to see the other man. He immediately pulled away when Michael placed a hand on his shoulder, turning back briefly to glare at him before walking rapidly back towards the diner.

“Brian, talk to me!” Michael pleaded, latching onto Brian’s arms. 

Not wanting his suit to get wrinkled, Brian reluctantly turned around to face the comic aficionado. “What do you want, Michael? I think you’ve already made your opinion perfectly clear. So go back and finish you’re breakfast.”

“I’m just trying to figure out why you felt the need to actually go through with this farce of a marriage to Justin,” Michael sighed dramatically. “I know that you feel guilty about Justin getting hurt, but that’s no reason to completely fuck up the rest of your life.”

“Why is marrying Justin fucking up my life?” Brian demanded, forcefully yanking his arm from Michael’s hold. “Did it ever occur to you that I might have married Justin because I wanted to?”

“Oh please!” Michael snorted, rolling his eyes. “Like you would ever want to be married. It goes against everything you believe it. Just admit it, Bri, you agreed to this farce of a marriage because you feel guilty about Justin getting hit on the head. Come on, you’ve gotta know that if you go through with this that you’ll never be able to get rid of him when he gets better.”

Stabbing his fingers into his hair, Brian glared at his hapless friend. “Will you get a clue, Michael!” Bringing his left hand down, he held it up in front of Michael’s face. “Do you see this ring? I’m the one who picked it out. I’m the one who bought it. I’m the one who brought it with me to New York and I’m the one who planned out the whole thing. Yeah, Justin got curious and I had to change those plans, but this was still my idea. This is something I want so get over it and leave Justin the hell alone.”

When Michael opened his mouth to say something else, Brian stepped around him and moved back towards the jeep.

“Brian, you’re making--”

“Michael Charles Novotny, you get your ass in here right now!” Deb shouted, cutting her son off mid-sentence. From the startled yelp that followed, Brian knew that she’d grabbed hold of his ear in order to drag him back into the diner.

A few seconds later, Brian felt a hand on his arm. One that he knew belonged to Justin even before he heard the quiet, “Let’s get out of here.”


	15. Anything of Nothing

If he’d known that was how the morning was going to go, he never would have reminded Brian about going to the diner. He would have just dropped Brian off at his office and gone to see his mother. Justin had known that Michael wouldn’t like the idea of Brian and him being married, but he hadn’t thought that Brian’s best friend would react like that. Justin couldn’t imagine Daphne doing something like that. Even if she didn’t approve of what he was doing, she at least stood behind his decision.

“Do you want me to start going through the things in storage?” Justin asked as they approached Brian’s building. “Or did you want to do that yourself?”

Brian shook his head absently. “Yeah. Sure. Toss whatever you think we don’t need to come with us to New York. I want to start over. Clean.”

“Brian....” Justin murmured. He wanted to say more, but couldn’t think of anything to say to him. “Did you maybe want to meet for lunch today? Grab something from the deli near your office?”

“Not today, Sunshine,” Brian mumbled, staring out the window at the passing city. “I’ve got a lot to get wrapped up before we head off to the Big Apple.”

Justin merely nodded his head, knowing better than to argue with Brian, and continued to drive to Ryder Agency. A few seconds later, Brian’s hand came to rest on his overtop of the gear shifter. Outwardly, Justin didn’t react with anything other than a slight smile. Normally he was the one who initiated contact like that and for Brian to do that was a big deal. It was the equivalent of a normal person shouting, “I love you!” in the middle of a crowded room.

“Later, Sunshine,” Brian murmured as Justin pulled over in front of Ryder Agency. A quick squeeze of Justin’s hand and he was gone.

“Later,” Justin called after him, but ended up speaking to the door rather than Brian himself.

He watched as Brian made his way into the building, his worry for the other man increasing. Justin was tempted to go back to the diner and give Michael a piece of his mind. The main thing stopping him was that he knew it would only make things worse for Brian because Michael would just go crying to Brian about what he’d said.

So instead, Justin did what he’d originally planned and went to his mother’s condo. He wasn’t really eager to see his mother, given her reaction when they were in New York, but as her son it was his duty to visit when his mother requested. It was a part of his WASP upbringing.

“Hey, fartface,” Molly chirped as she bounced down the stairs, still in her pj’s. “Did you and Brian really get married?”

“Hello to you too, Mollusk,” Justin smirked, shedding his hat and scarf.

Molly crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot impatiently. “You didn’t answer my question, Justin.”

“The ‘did I get married’ question?” Justin asked her, scratching at his nose with his left hand so that his sister got a good view of his ring. “You okay with that?”

“It’s cool,” Molly shrugged, already bored with the subject. A smug look then appeared on the girl’s face then which instantly had Justin worried. “Dad’s pissed, though.”

Justin stopped in the midst of unzipping his coat and stared after his sister in shock. He hadn’t even considered what his father’s reaction to his marriage would be because he hadn’t actually heard from his father since before his prom. The man hadn’t even gone to see him when he was in the hospital. There had been no phone call either. As far as he knew, his father would have rather he died when Chris Hobbs had hit him with a baseball bat.

“Mom, Dad, Justin’s here!” Molly shouted as she made her way back up the stairs to the kitchen.

Knowing that his father was there, Justin was sorely tempted to bundle himself back up and leave. He wanted nothing to do with a man who obviously didn’t care about him any longer. If his father knew about him being married to Brian then their meeting would be far from pleasant. Justin would have left too, except both of his parents knew that he was there and his father would just think of him as some sissy faggot if he ran away.

Justin removed his coat slowly, not wanting to see his father. To be honest, he hadn’t even wanted to see his mother, knowing full well her opinion of his relationship with Brian. Justin hung up his coat with a sigh then slowly trudged up the stairs to the kitchen where the people who had once made up his family were eating breakfast.

“Hey, mom,” Justin murmured as he appeared in the kitchen, waving slightly with his right hand. “Got any food left?”

“Of course, sweetheart,” Jennifer grinned, rising from her seat to get another plate. “There’s some pancakes and sausage on the table and I could make you some eggs if you want.”

Justin shook his head, searching out the seat farthest away from his father to sit in. “The pancakes and sausage are fine, mom. I already had a bit to eat at the diner this morning.”

“When are you gonna take me to the diner, Justin?” Molly demanded as she stabbed a few pieces of pancake with her fork. “I wanna see where Debbie works.”

“There’s no way you’re ever going to set foot in that place,” Craig hissed over the rim of his coffee cup.

“But, ddaaadddd,” Molly whined, letting her fork clattering onto her plate loudly. “Justin works there. Why can’t I go there?”

“Because you’re not a pervert,” was Craig’s response.

“Craig!”

Not having a fork to throw down, Justin stood up so quickly that his chair was upended. He couldn’t wrap his mind around what his father had said. He had always known that his father-- no, Craig --had hated Brian from the very beginning. Even before the two men had met face to face, Craig had hated Brian; had thought of him as a pervert. 

Now he was the pervert for doing nothing other than marrying the man he loved.

“I don’t know why I keep thinking that maybe one day I won’t get kicked in the balls when I see you,” Justin chuckled mirthlessly. “That maybe for once you’ll be my father and not just write me off because I’m not doing exactly what you want me to.”

“I did nothing of the sort,” Craig protested, staring up at Justin with his arms crossed over his chest. “You’re the one who abandoned this family.”

“You threw me out! I was seventeen years old and I had nowhere to go! I had to depend on people I barely knew to take me in and give me a home because you decided that I wasn’t worthy of being your son!” Justin shouted, raking the fingers of his right hand through his hair. “Because I didn’t play sports, I wasn’t going to Dartmouth and I didn’t have a girlfriend. Instead I was an artist, I was going to PIFA and I had a boyfriend. But do you know what was most important, Craig? I was happy and you couldn’t have that because I wasn’t happy the way you wanted me to be. Well fuck you!”

With a final glare in the direction of the man who had once been his father, Justin stalked out of the kitchen and out of his mother’s condo altogether.

“Justin, wait! Please wait!”

“I can’t be here, mom,” Justin ground out as he shrugged into his coat on his way to the jeep.

“Justin--”

“Why didn’t you warn me that he’d be here?” Justin demanded, spinning around to face her. “You knew that I was coming here this morning. You could have either told him to stay away or told me to. I don’t care which way you decided as long as I didn’t have to see him.”

“Don’t you think you’re being a little unreasonable?” his mother protested feebly.

Justin dropped his keys on the lawn when he registered just what she had said. “You can’t be serious, mom. He calls me a pervert and I’m being unreasonable? You do remember that he tried to kill Brian twice, right? He rammed the jeep from behind and then when he sucker punched Brian in an alley. He’s lucky that Brian hasn’t pressed charges against him. The only reason he didn’t press charges was because it was my father, but those ties don’t matter anymore. He’s not my father anymore.”

Snatching the keys up off the ground, Justin stalked over to the jeep, refusing to turn as his mother called after him. He’d expected his mother to try and talk him out of being married to Brian, but he hadn’t thought that he’d have to contend with Craig as well. At least Molly had seemed relatively okay with it.

Justin could only hope that Daphne would be supportive of him.

There were still another few hours until he had to meet Daphne at a little cafe near her apartment so Justin headed back to the loft. He could get started on unpacking their things and maybe do a few loads of laundry. Anything to keep his mind off how horrible the morning had been going so far.

When they’d left the loft that morning, Justin had been so excited about telling their family about the events of their New York trip. He’d thought that the gang would be happy for them. That the entire day would be a good one with the exception of him and Brian needing to separate so that the other man could go to work. The plan had failed miserably. Justin’s day was for shit and he wasn’t sure if it was going to get any better.

Hoping to dispel some of his excess energy, Justin took the stairs when he got back to the loft, jogging up them as fast as he could. He was breathless by the time he reached the top floor, panting as he fumbled through his pockets in search of the keys. Justin felt somewhat calmer, but was still upset about how the morning had gone.

Justin slammed the heavy metal door behind him and stalked towards the bedroom, dropping his outerwear as he went. The rest of his clothes were torn off when he got to the bedroom. He needed a nice, long shower if he was going to at least pretend to be happy when he met up with Daphne later. He was the newlywed, it was expected of him to put on a happy face. To be happy even though he just wanted to go and hide away in a corner.

As he was busy wrapping his left arm up so that he wouldn’t ruin his cast in the water, Justin mentally shook himself out of his stupor. He didn’t know why he was being so childish. Michael and Craig were the ones who had ruined what should have been a good morning for him and Brian.

By the time he was out of the shower and dressed in a fresh pair of clothes, Justin was feeling much better. He was calm, relaxed and ready to leave he loft and face the world again. As he was descending the steps to the main area of the loft, Justin caught sight of the painting he’d done before leaving for New York. It was in such an obvious place that he wondered if Brian had seen it that morning. It was hard to tell with Brian, though, because he wasn’t the type of person to mention seeing the painting.

Brian also wasn’t the type to admit to their being something deeper behind the painting that Justin simply dreaming the image in it.

Unpacking took no time at all and afterwards Justin was hard pressed to keep away from the painting resting up against the wall near the computer area. Justin knew that if he went anywhere near it, he’d end up adding things to the painting that didn’t need to be added. Overdoing brush strokes, muddling colours and obscuring Brian’s image even further.

So instead, Justin gathered up all of their dirty clothes and made his way down to the laundry room in the basement of the building. On top of the small plastic hamper, Justin dropped one of his sketchbooks, pencils in his pocket. Instead of going back up to the loft between cycles and possibly ruining his painting, Justin wanted to work on a new sketch he’d started while they were in New York. He’d woken up at some point during the night after they’d exchanged vows ten days before and his gaze landed on their entwined left hands. And the rings on their fourth fingers.

Experimenting with the different shades of blue he was using to shade the drawing, Justin ended up spending a lot more time in the laundry room than he’d originally planned.

“You’re late, Justin,” Daphne announced as she wandered into the laundry room. “In fact, you’re so late that you completely missed meeting me for lunch so I brought lunch to you.”

Justin smiled sheepishly at his best friend, hopping off the top of the dryer he’d been sitting on. “Sorry, Daph, I was doing the laundry and got distracted.”

“Somehow I don’t think that’s what had you distracted,” Daphne snorted, snatching the sketchbook out of his hand. “So what great work of art are you creating now?” Before Justin could stop her, she flipped to the last page of the sketchbook and saw the picture he was working on. “Um... I don’t mean to be awful, Justin, but you really don’t think this is ever going to happen, do you? I know Brian loves you but.... Oh my God! Is that what I think it is? You shit!”

“I was busy,” Justin laughed, snorting slightly as Daphne slapped his upper arm. “Besides, I was on my honeymoon. I’m allowed to forget about calling home.”

Daphne crossed her arms over her chest. “No, the hospital did that for you. I was really freaked out when your mom told me about you getting hit by that car. Why didn’t you call me? Brian had to work all day, right? You would have had the time to call me.”

While he gathered up the clean laundry, Justin told her about what had happened in New York at the beginning of the previous week. Including the fact that he and Brian were moving hundreds of miles away in the new year. She took it surprisingly well, pursing her lips and nodding as he explained the reasons behind the move.

“It’s not like I’m moving to the other side of the country,” Justin told her as the two of them slumped down onto the couch. “It’s just to New York. And this is a great opportunity for Brian. He’s always wanted to work in New York. Now he’ll get that chance and I’ll--”

“--be in your own version of heaven,” Daphne finished for him, digging into the bowl of popcorn between their bodies. “And I’m glad for you, Justin. I am. I’m just going to miss you. That’s all.”

“I’ll miss you too,” Justin murmured, nudging her with his shoulder. “But we’re planning on having a bedroom for Gus in our new place which means that there’s room for you to stay if you ever feel like getting away from the Pitts for a weekend.”

Justin was grateful for Daphne’s visit. Throughout the afternoon, Justin’s mood continued to improve. After their initial popcorn feast, the two of them had taken Justin’s film from his New York trip to the one hour photo place around the block so that he could share pictures of his honeymoon with Daphne.

“Brian ordered you guys cake with two little grooms on top?” Daphne demanded, her eyes darting from the picture to Justin and back again. “Brian Kinney?”

“Why is everyone so shocked?” Justin snorted, sifting through the next few that were for his and Brian’s eyes only before handing her one with Brian passed out on the chaise, the little grooms siting on his stomach. “Brian is perfectly capable of being romantic. He came to the prom, after all. I may not remember it, but....”

“It was romantic,” Daphne assured him, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. “The most romantic thing I’ve ever seen.... Oh! I ran into September last week and she had been talking to Stephanie Dobson and her boyfriend-- you remember Derek, right --well Derek was video taping things at the prom and he has your dance with Brian on tape. She’s going to get me a copy which I was going to give to you. If you wanted it.”

Completely floored, Justin could only stare at his best friend in shock. There was a video of the best night of his life, a night he couldn’t remember. Justin would finally be able to see the “high provocative” dance that he and Brian had shared in front of the senior class of St. James.

At the same time, Justin was completely terrified about what he would see on that tape. He’d built up the moment so completely in his mind and was scared about what would happen if the actual event didn’t live up to what he’d created in his imagination.

“I want to see the video,” Justin said at last. 

No matter how worried he was, he had to see that moment. It was a big part of his history with Brian and he wanted to be able to remember more than just the horrible ending of his prom.

“You really were beautiful,” Daphne insisted, reaching over to squeeze his shoulder.

Justin nodded his head slightly, pursing his lips as he fought to hold back the fears that were beginning to eat at him once again. “Look, I hate to cut this short, Daph, but I need to go pick Brian up from work. I got possession of the jeep today.”

“Brian actually let you drive his jeep?” Daphne’s eyes grew wide as she rose from the couch, reaching behind her to pull Justin up beside her. “Did you hypnotize him or something?”

Grinning broadly, Justin waggled his eyebrows. “Like I’m gonna tell you. You’d just rat me out to Brian.”

Daphne’s eyes flitted briefly to the ring on Justin’s left hand, smiling. “He’s doing it willingly, Justin. You’ll know that when you see the tape.”


	16. Anything of Nothing

Big thanx to everyone who voted for Anything of Nothing as the fic of the month!! Not bad for a story that almost ended up on the scrap heap!

~*~*~

Brian slumped back in his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose. He'd just come back from informing Marty Ryder that he would no longer be available in a few weeks' time. As he'd expected, Marty had put up a descent fight to keep him, offering him a partnership. For a few seconds, Brian had been tempted to take the offer. An agreement had been on the tip of his tongue until Brad or Bob-- he could never remember which was which --had stumbled into the office with some minor problem which he'd turned into a national crisis.

"Look, Marty, it's nothing personal," Brian had assured his soon-to-be former boss. "You know I've always wanted to go play with the big boys in New York. This is my chance to do that."

"You do realize that this is incredibly short notice," was Marty's protest. "You're leaving me hanging on a lot of important accounts."

"Which is why I'm going to get all of my accounts up and running before the end of the year. Whatever happens after has nothing to do with me."

It wasn't the answer Marty had been looking for, but it was the best Brian could do. He needed to get out of the Pitts. His mother's reaction to his marriage hadn't surprised him, but Mikey's had. He hadn't thought that his best friend would be so against him marrying Justin. Mikey had been there the three days that they hadn't known whether Justin would be all right. Mikey knew how close he'd been to falling apart until the doctor had told them that Justin would recover so how he could think that Justin was still just the trick who wouldn't go away baffled him.

Shaking his head, Brian attempted to focus his mind back on the opened file that was spread across his desk. He'd started the preliminary work on the account before leaving for New York and in order to make sure that Brad, Bob or any of the other accounts execs left at Ryder didn't fuck it up.

"Right now the office is undecided about whether I'm lucky to be going to New York or if I should be pitied for following you to New York," Cynthia informed him as she blew into his office. "Would you care to put your vote in?"

"Ha fuckin' ha," Brian snorted, leaning back into his plush leather chair. "Did you get that stuff from legal I asked for?"

"All right here," she assured him, holding up a file folder. "So please tell me that you're not going to leave your new husband home alone night after night for the next week. You're newly weds and it's Christmas."

Brian scowled at her briefly and held his hand out to accept the manila folder. "It's Christmas in a week and a half and I've got a shit load of stuff to finish up here and at the loft."

"You're mother-in-law is listing the place for you, right?"

"How do you know what Justin's mom does for a living?" Brian demanded, furrowing his brows.

Cynthia rolled her eyes and sat down demurely in the seat across from him. "Because you told me to point anyone in the office who was selling their house in her direction. Are you feeling all right, Brian?"

"Yeah. Fine," Brian stammered, squeezing his eyes shut as he leaned back further in his chair than he already was, practically sinking into it. "Could you, um... could you get a list of all the numbers for my clients. I want to tell them what's going on myself."

Cynthia took her dismissal for what it was and left him alone in his office. At some point he would have to tell his clients about this defection to the New York agency, that much was true, but it wasn't something he had to do right that moment. Brian still needed to figure out what he was going to do with the time he had left in the Pitts. Normally he would have spent at least some part of his Christmas with Mikey, but that was out this year unless Mikey changed his opinion of his marriage to Justin. That was completely non-negotiatable and Michael needed to realize that.

Brian spent the rest of the morning and much of the afternoon going over his accounts and making a few phone calls. He wanted to get things wrapped up as quickly as possible so that he could help Justin organize their move. Brian was just opening the last of the files he was planning on going through that day when a certain blonde waltzed into his office.

"So, a little birdy told me that the infamous Brian Kinney was off the market," Lindsay said as she handed Gus off to his father.

"That's some smart little birdy," Brian smirked then held Gus up over his head, making faces at the little boy. "So what do you think about Justin being your other daddy, Sonnyboy?"

"Jus dadda?" Gus asked as he was set down on Brian's desk.

"Yep, Justin is going to be your other daddy because the two of us got married last weekend," Brian informed his son, holding up his left hand so that Gus could see his ring. "And in a few weeks we're moving to New York so--"

"Wait a minute!" Lindsay interrupted, her eyes widening. "You're moving to New York? When did this happen? Why didn't you tell me?"

Brian shared an eye roll with Gus before turning to Lindsay. "Yes. Last week. I haven't had time yet."

"How could you not tell me about something like this as soon as you found out?" Lindsay demanded, pushing herself out of the seat she'd chosen for herself and crossing around the desk to stand next to him. "What about your son? What about Gus? Are you just going to abandon him?"

Slumping back in his seat, Brian gathered Gus up in his arms, holding the toddler against his chest. "Didn't we already go over this in May? What's the difference between then and now?"

"The fact that you're married springs to mind," was her automatic response. "Since when do you give a damn about things like that? Up until yesterday I would have been betting Gus' college fund that you wouldn't come to Mel and my wedding and now I find out you beat me to the alter."

"There was no alter," Brian insisted, glaring at her over the top of Gus' head. "Only a bed."

"Then how is it...?"

Brian shook his head. "None of it's legal. It was just something for Justin and me."

"So you just did this because you're moving to New York and you wanted him to go with you," Lindsay rationalized, sighing with relief.

"No, the rings came first," Brian corrected her.

This had Lindsay completely flabbergasted. What he was saying went against every one of his old mottos and creeds. The old Brian Kinney never would have even considered buying the rings let alone put them to use in any manner. The thing that frightened him most of all was the fact that there really was no difference between who he had been before he bought the rings and afterwards. 

"Is there any point to this, Lindz?" Brian demanded after the silence stretched on for nearly a full minute. "Because if there's not I've got a shit load of work to do."

"No swearing in front of your kid," Lindsay chastised automatically. "Are you sure this is a good idea, Brian?"

Groaning loudly, Brian lifted his right hand to cover his face. "God, Lindz, yes. How many times do I have to say it?"

"It's just that.... Before, when you were leaving, I could hope that you would come back. I could pretend that maybe you would miss your family enough that you'd give up New York and come back," Lindsay explained, fumbling her fingers like she normally did when she was nervous. "If you go with Justin, chances are you won't come back. The two of you will settle down and--"

"I'm never going to marry you, Lindsay," Brian reminded her, shifting Gus in his arms as his son began to wiggle around. He scooted his chair closer to his desk and handed Gus a highlighter and a piece of paper, making sure to shove all important documents out of the toddler's reach.

"I'm marrying Melanie. I love her," Lindsay insisted, frowning at him. "That's not what's in question."

"Then what is?"

Lindsay floundered at that, her fumbling hands increasing their nervous action. Brian made no move to help her out with her befuddlement besides arching an eyebrow in her direction.

Gus got fed up with the highlighter very quickly so Brian gathered him up and carried him towards the closet where he had some toys left over from an account he'd been working on just before his trip to New York. He'd meant to bring the Gus-approved ones over to the munchers for his son, but hadn't had the time before leaving.

Once he had the fifteen month old set up on the floor with a variety of blocks, exaggerated vehicles and toddler-sized action figures, Brian turned back to Lindsay who still hadn't given him an answer.

"Okay, Lindsay, what is your problem?" Brian asked her, point blank. "Is it that I'm married to Justin or that we're moving out of the Pitts?"

"I'm sure that you have a lot to do before you and Justin move away so I'm going to take Gus and go," Lindsay said in place of an answer. She quickly began to gather Gus up, stuffing the protesting little boy into his jacket, hat and mittens.

"Dadda! Dadda!" Gus whimpered, reaching his mittened hands towards Brian while Lindsay slipped on her own coat. "Stay wif ou."

Brian immediately scooped Gus up into his arms, brushing a kiss against his cheek. "How about Jus and me take you for a boys day out on Saturday?"

"To-day?"

"Saturday."

Gus attempted to pout his way into making Brian comply, but Brian still had to shake his head. After spending two weeks away from his son, Brian wouldn't have minded taking Gus home with him for the afternoon. The fact that he was moving out of state soon only added to that desire. Before long he and Justin would be restricted to the odd weekend to spend time with Gus and end up missing most of his childhood. That had always been the main drawback to their planned move, but it was too late to change their minds.

Brian held onto Gus as he walked Lindsay downstairs to her car. The two adults weren't talking so Brian chatted quietly with Gus who was talking nonsense. Brian listened attentively to every word and even allowed a goofy smile to appear on his face when they were in the elevator.

"I'll talk to Mel about you and Justin taking Gus for the day on Saturday," Lindsay promised as she opened the driver's side door. Brian could only nod silently as she climbed in, knowing that she would come up with some excuse to deny him and Justin an afternoon with the little boy. "Take care of yourself, Bri. Don't work too hard."

Brian stood back so that Lindsay could pull away, crossing his arms over his chest in an attempt to hold some of the heat in his body. He was only wearing a suit, minus the jacket, and it was below freezing outside, but Brian remained standing on the sidewalk until the car disappeared around a corner.

He was startled when he felt a pair of arms wrap around him from behind.

"What are you doing out here dressed like that?" Justin asked, his warm breath heating up his chilled throat.

"Lindsay was just here with Gus," he murmured, leaning back into Justin's embrace momentarily before pulling away. "Come on, let's go inside before I end up freezing."

There were people staring at them as they made their way back into the building, but Brian ignored them. He didn't care what other people thought of his relationship with Justin, not even his family. They were moving away from the Pitts where there was actually a chance that they could succeed in having a life. They wouldn't have to be constantly fighting against their own family who seemed dead set on having them fail.

"You know what," Justin said as soon as the elevator doors shut around them, "I think I'm going to have the physically rid you of this funk you're in."

Brian arched an eyebrow at that and could do nothing to stop the slight smile that was determined to up the corner of his lips. "Is that so, Mr. Taylor?"

Slinking closer, Justin wound his arms around Brian's shoulders and pulled himself forward so that the two of them were pressed together fully front to front. "That is definitely so, Mr. Kinney."

The elevator shuddered to a halt then, opening on the floor of Brian's office. There were a few people waiting to get in, but even so it was a few moments before the pair separated from their embrace. Latching onto Justin's hand, Brian guided him down the corridor towards his office. He'd already decided against bringing any work home and was really only going back to his office to get his jacket and briefcase so that he and Justin could go home and he could put the day behind him once and for all.

His plans were interrupted by Justin who immediately shut and locked the door behind them. He turned around in time to see Justin closing the wooden blinds that covered the windowed wall that looked out into the corridor.

"And just what are you up to?"

Justin's response was to toss the coat onto a nearby chair and begin pulling his shirt up over his head. Half naked, Justin began to stalk towards him, hooking his index fingers through Brian's belt loops as soon as he was close enough.

"I'm thinking that's pretty obvious, don't you?" Justin grinned, tilting his head up so that his lips brushed against the underside of Brian's jaw.

"I think I still need a few more clues," Brian smirked, holding his arms out at his sides so that Justin could do whatever he wanted to him.

Taking the challenge, Justin released Brian's belt loops and reached up to loosen his tie. "I can do that."

Brian remained perfectly still, allowing Justin to manipulate his arms while the blonde got him out of his shirt. Brian enjoyed the process because Justin made sure to take his time, running his fingers over his chest as more and more flesh was exposed, his lips joining in from time to time. He gasped as Justin's lips wrapped around his right nipple, flicking his tongue against the tip.

"Holy shit!" Brian moaned as Justin bit down on his puckered nipple. He had to keep himself from making any loud noises because it was barely five o'clock and much of the office was still around. "Jus...."

Justin kissed his way up Brian's chest, along his throat and over his chin so that they were once again standing face to face. "I've barely even gotten started, there's no way you can be so vocal already."

"I've had a long day," Brian offered in way of an excuse.

"Then as your husband it's my job to make you feel better."

The artist did just that.

Dropping down to his knees, Justin began to fumble with his belt so that he could get to the zipper on the designer pants. Brian sighed when the zipper came undone and Justin slid his jock down, exposing his half hard cock the blonde's ravenous lips. Justin raised his eyes up to meet Brian as he pressed his closed lips against the tip. He bumped against it a few times, grinning in the wake of Brian's groans. Then Justin sucked his lips in and when he smacked them, he sucked in Brian's dick when he breathed back in.

Brian sunk his fingers into Justin's hair which had finally gotten long enough for him to properly grip and run his fingers through. And when it hung down over his temples, it hid the jagged white scar left behind by the baseball bat.

Forgetting how far he was away from his desk, Brian nearly toppled over when he went to lean back against it. He stumbled back a few steps, his dick popping free of Justin's mouth as his ass connected with the edge of the desk. Still on his knees, Justin snorted in mirth and ended up sliding onto his rear.

"You okay?" Justin giggled, reaching a hand out towards Brian.

Brian arched an eyebrow, but nonetheless moved forward so that his fingers linked with Justin's. While he pulled Brian down towards him, Justin straightened his legs out in front of him so that Brian was straddling his thighs when his knees finally touched the ground.

"If you think you're going to fuck me in my own office you've got another thing coming," Brian murmured, nudging Justin backwards with an index finger so that the artist was stretched out on the ground.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Justin assured him, folding his hands behind his head to act as a pillow.

Brian stretched himself out overtop of his husband, grinning down at him. 

"That's more like it."


	17. Anything of Nothing

"Mom," Justin gasped, surprised to see his mother standing on the other side of the loft door. "What are you doing here?"

A typical, WASP-like smile appeared on her face as she held up a covered plate. "Your grandmother insisted that I bring over these cookies. She made them especially for you, but wasn't sure where you lived now so I volunteered to deliver them."

"Thanks," Justin mumbled, still a little unsure, but brandishing an equally false smile. "Did you want to come in for coffee or tea? I could give you Molly's Christmas present while you're here too. Better that I give it to you now in case he shows up on Christmas when I was going to bring it over."

"Your father just overreacted," Jennifer said as she stepped further into the loft. "He'd only found out that morning and the last thing that anyone expected was for you and Brian to get married. Even Debbie was shocked."

"That doesn't excuse what he said," Justin ground out, setting the plate down on the counter as he made his way to the cupboards in search of coffee beans. "He called me a pervert. Just because I married the man I love."

"Can we not talk about this now, sweetheart," Jennifer pleaded while she shed her winter coat. "Your father has his own problems to deal with and you shouldn't let it effect you."

Justin rolled his eyes. "What about Molly? What if he convinces her that I'm a pervert? Are you going to allow that?"

"Your father would never do that," Jennifer insisted, worrying her hands together. "He loves you, Justin."

Not wanting to argue about the fact, Justin still snorted in disbelief. It was hard for him to even believe that Craig thought about him at all. Even when he was lying half dead in a hospital bed the older man hadn't seemed to give a care about him. There had been no visits, no cards, not even a phone call to find out how he was doing. That was something that hadn't changed when he got out of the hospital. In all the months between May and December, Justin had seen Craig only once and that was the day before last. Growing up, Justin never would have thought that things between himself and Craig would become so strained. His father had been his hero, but now Craig was a stranger to him.

"Have you received any of your marks for this semester?" Jennifer asked in a desperate attempt to change the subject. "I know Christmas is in a few days, but shouldn't the offices still be open."

"Till tomorrow, yeah," Justin confirmed with a nod, "but I don't have any of my marks yet. All of my proffs seem to be procrastinating this semester so I probably won't get any till after the new year."

"That's a shame," she mused. "It would be nice if you could get your marks before the holidays."

"I've been on holiday for over a week now," Justin grinned, the smile appearing the same as it always did when he thought about his trip to New York. "They'll have to figure out my marks soon enough because I'm going to need to get my transcript together as soon as the offices open again."

"What on earth for?" Jennifer demanded as she accepted the empty coffee cup Justin handed to her. It was a Christmas one that Brian didn't know he had. If he had, the older man would have hidden it away somewhere where Justin wouldn't be able to find it. Justin was still surprised that he'd managed to convince Brian to hang plain white twinkling lights around the entrance to the bedroom.

"So that I can start applying to schools in New York for summer session," Justin responded automatically. "I'm taking this semester off to deal with the move."

Ever since he and Brian had decided to move to New York, Justin had been struggling to figure out just how he was going to tell his mother about it. He knew instinctively that she wouldn't be happy about the news given how she'd reacted to finding out that he and Brian were married. Now not only were they married, but they'd be moving far away from the Pitts, away from where she could keep an eye on them.

"And just what move would that be?" Jennifer asked, doing her utmost to retain her usual WASPish calm. Justin could see the cracks in the facade, though. There was a slight twitching going on in the right corner of her mouth, a sure sign that his mother was trying to conceal her temper.

"Brian got a job offer in New York so we're moving there at the beginning of the year."

His mother was stunned into silence by his news. For several long moments she didn't say anything and just stared at him from the opposite side of the counter. Then she began to tap her manicured nails against the porcelain cup in her hands. Justin knew that he was in trouble, then. The tapping fingers meant that his mother was preparing for an attack. As a child, Justin had always dreaded those tapping fingers because they normally meant that he'd done something he wasn't supposed to and was being called on it.

However, Justin wasn't eight years old anymore. He was eighteen, married, and about to be starting said married life in a new city.

"How soon are you moving?" Jennifer demanded, her eyes tracking Justin's every move as he went about getting the coffee ready. "This is the first I've heard of it."

"Brian was offered the job last week. We talked about it and decided that it was a good offer and now we're trying to get everything in order so that we can be in New York by the middle of January," Justin explained while he poured the water into the back of the coffee machine. "We were hoping that you'd be the one to list the loft. Brian said something about you offering to be the one to do it if he ever decided to sell the loft. Cynthia has all the information so she'll get in touch with you some time after Christmas, I think."

Jennifer huffed loudly, her fingers playing with the rim of her coffee cup. Her fingers stilled after a few moments and then, "Do you really think it's a good idea to be moving away from your doctors? You're still not back to one hundred percent."

Justin said nothing, but effortlessly operated the coffee bean grinder with one gimp hand and one in a cast. "I'm never going to be back to one hundred percent. That doesn't mean I can't still go and live my life. Besides, I doubt there's a shortage of doctors in New York. And it's not like I'm going into it blind. Brian and I have a meeting with my doctor next Monday. Cynthia called him once Brian accepted the job and he's been going over my files, gathering them up and getting in touch with a few doctors he knows in New York. Monday he's going to give me one last check up then he's sending my file to my new doctor. So you have nothing to worry about. Brian even went over the health insurance he was getting with the new firm to make sure that I would be covered no questions asked. He wasn't signing if that wasn't part of the deal."

"I still think you should stay in the city till you're given a clean bill of health," his mother protested further. "At least until you're done your physical therapy."

"Which won't be for at least another year. A year that I could be spending with my husband in New York," Justin said pointedly. "It's not that hard to switch where I do my phsyo. I'll probably get even better therapy in New York so there goes that argument, mom."

At that point his mother finally seemed to figure out that she wasn't going to win the argument any time soon. All of a sudden, Justin realized that she hadn't been trying to really win the first place. Having been party to his mother's attempts at manipulation in the past, Justin knew that she was simply trying to assure herself that he wasn't making a decision on a whim. She may not have always approved of his decisions, but in the end let him decide for himself, knowing that in the end he would do what was right for himself.

"I know what I'm doing, mom," Justin assured her. "Brian wouldn't let me do this unless I was absolutely sure."

"Then I'm glad for you, sweetheart," Jennifer said, unable to completely suppress her uneasiness in her smile. "I'll miss you, though."

"I won't be that far away," Justin promised her. "New York and Pittsburgh aren't that far apart. You and Molly can even come visit once we get settled so that you can see for yourself that I'm not living in a box somewhere."

Jennifer rolled her eyes at that. "I highly doubt that Brian would consent to live in a box given the standards he's set here. Is it too much to hope that there will be walls in your new place?"

"A few," Justin grinned mischievously.

While they waited for the coffee to percolate, Justin got some moving tips from his mother and also talked to her about listing the loft. The more he learned from his mother, the more Justin realized that it was going to be a lot of work to get things ready for the move. There were things to be moved over state lines, things of his that needed to be taken out of storage and shipped to their new home on top of deciding what furniture would stay with the loft and what would be coming with them to New York.

"I've still got to figure out what to do about all my art," Justin mused as he refilled his mother's cup of coffee. "Do you think I could keep them in your basement? At least until we figure out how we're designing our new place? I'd hate for anything to happen to them if I put them in storage somewhere."

Jennifer perked up at that. "Have you painted any new ones recently? Everything's been so hectic lately that I haven't been by to see your new work."

Justin nodded his head towards the large portrait of Brian that was resting near the computer area. "That one's for a show at school... or at least it was for a show at school. I'm not sure what's going to happen to it now."

As always, Justin could see his mother's shoulders relax when she saw that Brian's privates weren't on display. Instead, he had been painted from the shoulders up and was portrayed in such a hazy way that even if it had been a full frontal shot Brian's dick would have been obscured rather than showed in full detail. Not that Brian would have minded... provided their life actually calmed down enough for him to see it. Brian was working overtime to get all of his accounts up and running and hadn't been home till nearly ten o'clock the night before then by the time he'd arrived at the loft he'd pretty much just collapsed in bed, waking up a few hours later to continue what they'd begun at his office that afternoon.

"That's very haunting, Justin. Almost dream-like," Jennifer praised as she stared down at the painting that was leaning against the wall.

"It feels that way in my head, too," Justin agreed, glad that someone finally seemed to be getting his painting. "Like it's real but... not. I've had this image in my head for a long time, but never bothered to put it down."

Jennifer stared at it a few moments longer, nodding her head in agreement. "I imagine that's what he would have looked like."

"When?"

All at once, Jennifer seemed to realize what she'd said and stood back, frowning slightly. At Justin's imploring gaze, she pursed her lips and said, "When you were in the hospital. Those first few days he was like a ghost at the foot of your bed. We could barely get him to eat or sleep until he knew that you would be all right."

Justin perked up at that. No one ever wanted to talk about the bashing. It was a very taboo subject with their entire family. Brian especially. And Justin could understand that and didn't blame his husband for it. Aside from him, Brian was the one who had been hurt the most by what had happened in that parking garage. And no one had paid any attention to him because it was Justin who was in the hospital. Brian's wounds were invisible to almost everyone.

"What happened after those three days?" Justin murmured, still trying to figure out where the image of Brian peering down at him had come from.

Jennifer pursed her lips and shrugged her shoulders slightly. "After... after, I never saw him. Neither did anyone else."

"Oh."

"But just because no one saw him doesn't mean he wasn't there. You better than anyone should know that," Jennifer reminded him.

Justin was completely floored. He'd always wanted to believe that Brian had been at the hospital to see him, but had put it down to wishful thinking on his part. Of course, he should have known that Brian would do something like that so that no one would know just how human he really was.

"How come you never told me this before?" Justin asked as he began to process what his mother had told him. "I know why Brian couldn't tell me, but why didn't you?"

"For the same reason I tried to keep him away from you when you first got out of the hospital," Jennifer admitted, not meeting his eyes. "And I know you don't want to hear this, but a part of me will always blame Brian for what happened to you."

"Mom--"

"I know," Jennifer sighed. "In my head I know that he wasn't the one to hurt you, but I can't keep myself from wondering what would have happened if he hadn't gone to your prom."

"I would have died," Justin said automatically. "There would have been no one to stop Hobbs from hitting me a second time and I would have ended up with my brains splattered on the pavement."

Jennifer looked as though he'd struck her. Her face drained of blood and her eyes went wide.

"I know you don't want to hear that, mom, but it's the truth," Justin murmured, looking at the floor rather than at her. "Brian saved my life. You need to come to terms with that. Especially now that he's my husband. The whole till death do us part and beyond thing."

"That's what I thought when I married your father," she mused as she moved back towards the kitchen area of the loft. "I was going to spend the rest of my life with him and now look at where we are."

"We're not you and Craig," Justin reminded her. "We are completely different people and we're in a completely different situation than you were. We've been through a lot more than you had been before you got married."

"I don't want to argue with you about this, Justin," his mother sighed as she began to gather up her purse and coat. "Now I've got to go. Your father is going to be dropping Molly off soon so I need to be home. You'll be okay?"

"Yeah. Sure," Justin mumbled, turning his attention back to the painting. "Say hi to Mollusk for me."

Once Jennifer was in the elevator on the way down to the main floor, Justin retreated back to his painting. He'd always wanted to believe that Brian had been at the hospital, but since he hadn't Justin had pushed himself so that he'd be able to get out of the hospital and find Brian himself. Now there was the possibility that the few times he'd dreamed of seeing Brian while he was in the hospital that the other man had actually been there, watching over him when he was asleep.

"That's probably too romantic even for you," Justin mumbled, turning away from the picture. "It would be nice, though."

Justin left the loft then, heading for the storage area on their floor. He figured he'd start there rather than the one in the basement because it was easier to lug the boxes into the loft from just down the hallway than up five flights of stairs. True, an elevator would be involved and he wouldn't be literally lugging the boxes up five flights of stairs but it was still easier to sort through the boxes in the upstairs storage area.

Which was how he found himself looking through things that were undoubtedly relics of Brian's high school career. Old year book and trophies and awards and tests and report cards, the things Justin knew his mother had hidden away in her attic. The things Joan Kinney would have had in her attic if she'd even been putting up the pretenses of caring about her son. So Brian had kept them along with his acceptance letter from Penn State, offering him a full ride scholarship.

At the bottom of the box, though, there were a few things that were most definitely _not_ Brian's. They were things from his own prom. Pictures of him taken at Deb's, some of him and Daphne that her parents had taken, the expected posed picture that was taken by a photographer at the prom itself.... And one of him and Brian dancing under a blue spotlight.

"What the...." Justin mumbled, staring at the picture from every angle. To his knowledge there wasn't an existing picture of their dance. Of course, until the day before he hadn't even known that there was a video of the dance.

Justin could understand why Brian wanted to keep the picture a secret, though. Of the two of them, Brian was the only one to remember what had happened at the prom. Justin had little flashes of a dance and the memory of Brian screaming his name in a parking garage. That was all Justin remembered about the prom. He hoped, though, that by watching the video Daphne was tracking down for him he would remember more.

The other boxes he brought in were filled with a variety of odds and ends undoubtedly collected over the course of Brian's childhood and clothes. A lot of clothes. Clothes that Justin was sure Brian had never worn because most of them were still tagged or folded with a very store-like precision that was impossible to match elsewhere. Justin put those boxes by themselves near the dining room table so that Brian could sort through them himself and went off to get another load of boxes.

He was halfway to the loft door when it was hauled open, startling Justin. A huge smile spread across his features when he saw Brian on the other side.

"Hello, lover," Justin drawled as he made his way over to where Brian was fumbling with his coat and briefcase. "You're home early."

"Finished everything I needed to," Brian informed him, tossing his coat over the back of the computer chair. "Everything is now in the less than capable hands of Bob and Brad and as far from being my concern as something can possibly get. So I am not officially on Christmas vacation until I start with Kennedy & Collins in a few weeks."

Catching hold of Brian's still outstretched hand, Justin slid his fingers between Brian's while he gripped his husband's waist somewhat awkwardly with his left hand. "So, in other words, I have you all to myself and I can do whatever I want with you."

"That all depends on what you want to do with me," Brian murmured as he leaned down to touch his forehead to Justin's.

Justin began to back up, using his grip on Brian's waist to pull the other man with him. "I want you naked. Now. On the bed if it's at all possible."

"Someone's in a very vanilla mood," Brian teased, earning him a slap on the hip from Justin.

"I am not vanilla," Justin insisted. He spun around quickly and began to drag Brian in the direction of the bedroom, intent on proving to his husband just how non-vanilla he could be.


	18. Anything of Nothing

It was the first time in nearly a month that the entire family had been gathered together. It was also likely to be one of the last times for quite a while.

Brian would have been content to remain at the loft all day, lounging away the day in bed with Justin. In his mind, the day wasn't any different from any other. At least not this year. When Gus was older, Brian was sure that he'd take more pleasure in Christmas, but his son was still a baby and wouldn't really be aware of what was going on.

That morning, he'd woken up to Justin nuzzling his throat, lips murmuring against his skin even before the sun was up. They lingered in bed for as long as possible, the time filled with gentle kisses and light caresses as neither was completely awake before Lindsay's phone call at seven-thirty demanding their presence so that Gus could open his presents from Santa. Brian wasn't entirely sure why they were needed since it was unlikely that Gus would remember anything about that Christmas, but he was glad to spend the time with his son.

Each had a few presents for the other, but were planning on waiting until later in the night to exchange them since they had known ahead of time that they'd have to be at the munchers' first thing in the morning for Gus. Brian wanted to spend as much time with his possible with his son before he and Justin moved to New York. There was a great deal that still needed to be figured out between him and Lindsay about visitation and other things concerning Gus.

"You want some more?" Justin asked as he extracted the empty tumbler from his lax grip.

Brian glanced up at the blonde, nodding his head silently. He was then treated to a soft, lingering kiss before Justin turned to head to the table set up near the fireplace which had been turned into a temporary bar. As assistant to the host, Vic had been corralled into acting as bartender by Deb who was cooking away in the kitchen. Everyone else was scattered about the living room in groups, doing the things that families did when gathered together.

The focus of his attention, though, was Justin. Justin who was carefully making his way back across the living room with a tumbler of whiskey balanced in each hand. Brian paid special attention to what he was doing as he accepted the glass from Justin's cast-encased hand, not wanting to spill any of the liquid on it. Then he promptly pulled the blonde down onto his lap, winding an arm around his husband's waist.

"See, it's not that bad," Justin murmured as he snuggled against Brian. "Everyone is pretty much ignoring us and not making any comments about us getting married."

"Just you wait, Sunshine. Once we get to the dinner table they're going to gang up on us," Brian said into the top of Justin's head. "We're leave in a week and a half so this is the last time they're going to be able to voice their opinions en mass."

"Maybe they'll just forget," Justin said in an exaggerated whisper.

Brian gave him a dubious look, shaking his head in disbelief. "How much egg nog have you had to drink today?"

"Not that much," the blonde assured him, snuggling in closer while making sure not to spill his drink on the older man.

"But you've never had Vic's egg nog before," Brian reminded him, unable to suppress his grin. Having sampled the older man's Christmas concoction many years in the past he knew full well that there was far more nog than egg. "You'd be feeling it more if you didn't eat everything in sight."

"Not that bad," Justin giggled and Brian wound his arms around his husband, enjoying the feel of the smaller body tucked into his own.

Justin wiggled still closer, a frown creasing his normally smiling features. Instantly, Brian started to worry, unsure of what was going on. Until he saw where the artist's attention was focused. Then he was frowning as well. The cast was a reminder of something he would have rather forgotten. Brian still couldn't figure out what Kevin had been trying to accomplish with his violent smear campaign. There had been no sense to what Kevin had been attempting to do and Justin had suffered because of it. The blonde had been subjected to another disorienting panic attack that had left him in the hospital broken and bruised. It would have made more sense for Kevin to go after him since Justin had absolutely nothing to do with Brian's career except to put up with him when he was up all hours of the night working his magic on a campaign.

Since Kevin seemed to have faded into the background for the moment, Brian just wanted to move on and put it behind them. He didn't want to live with the fear that Kevin was going to pop up somewhere once they moved to New York. At the moment that fear was still somewhat real-- Brian still found himself waking from a deep sleep with the deep fear that something had happened to Justin and would immediately wind his body around his lover --but hoped that it would fade as Justin's injuries did.

"Dinner's ready!" Deb shouted above the noise in the living room. "Everybody get in here and eat!"

Brian started to get up, but stopped halfway through the motion when he realized that Justin had no intention of moving. "Hey. Food."

Immediately Justin perked up, his head swiveling in the direction of the kitchen. "Food?"

"Get that bubble butt of yours in gear, Sunshine!" Deb called out as she set a bowl of stuffing on the table. "The food'll only be warm for so long."

Justin started to dart forward, but Brian managed to latch onto the waistband of his jeans which earned him a startled cry from the blonde. He kept a firm grip on Justin's jeans until he was standing then wound his arms around Justin's shoulders as the two of them made their way into the kitchen where everyone else was already gathering. Michael went to go sit in the seat next to the one Brian was claiming for himself. All it took was a dark glare from the ad exec to get his friend to think better of his actions and choose a new seat.

"All right," Deb said once everyone was seated, silencing the crowd. "Good. Now, as I'm sure you all know, this is a very special Christmas. Not only do we have Sunshine with us alive and well, but he and Brian got married a few weeks ago. Granted, none of us were there, but knowing the grooms I'm sure that it was very special."

"They probably didn't have any clothes on," Ted quipped, swirling his wine glass around a bit.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Justin's cheeks flushing.

"You were naked?!" Emmett chirped. The eccentric Southerner sat up tall and straight in his chair, glancing pointedly in their direction. "Come on, spill spill. I want to know all the juicy details."

"Only those who were invited get to know the details," Brian smirked as he squeezed Justin's thigh under cover of the tablecloth. "You weren't there so you don't get to know."

"Well that's hardly fair," Emmett sulked, pouting dramatically.

There was a moment's silence and then Ted spoke up again. "You know, if you two really wanted to-- and if you really were naked --you could repeat your ceremony on my website. As soon as the Pittsburgh queers found out about it they'd all be tuning in to see the great Brian Kinney and the King of Babylon tie the knot. You'd make a fortune."

"Already doing that," Brian smirked, ending the subject with a final glare at the former accountant.

Or so he thought.

"You got married on a porn site?" Lindsay cried, outraged.

Rolling his eyes, Brian turned his head into Justin's shoulder and let out an agonized groan. "Make them stop. Please make them stop," he whimpered dramatically.

Justin pressed a quick kiss to the top of his head, chuckling quietly. Then Justin addressed their gathered family. "No we didn't get married on a porn site. We got married in a hotel room in New York. And no, there are no wedding pictures to hand out. So you'll just have to take us at our words that it was a very beautiful and romantic ceremony."

"That's not what I wanted to hear," Brian grumbled, lifting his head to press a kiss to the corner of Justin's jaw. "You're going to ruin my reputation."

"Your reputation was compromised a long time ago," Vic chuckled, raising a glass in toast. "So you might as well just sit back and quit trying to deny it."

Having been put in his place by the family patriarch, Brian went back to picking at his food. He couldn't help but grin, though, when Justin would spear a piece of food from his plate and hold it up in front of his mouth in an attempt to force him to eat. The first few times he protested simply on principle, but gave up as Justin continued to bump the morsel of food against his closed lips.

"Don't think you're always going to get away with this," Brian smirked after swallowing a mouthful of turkey. "I am capable of feeding myself."

"Which is why you spend more time pushing your food around than eating it," the blonde grinned, his blue eyes twinkling.

For the rest of the meal, conversation was thankfully turned away from the subject of their "wedding," granting Brian a much needed reprieve. When he'd originally decided to ask Justin for forever, he'd forgotten that it would be such a big deal to the rest of their family. Or rather, he had, but he'd hoped that it would take them a while to notice the rings he and Justin had exchanged. A naive hope, but one that he'd maintained nonetheless.

Between dinner and desert, Gus awoke from his nap, making his presence known with a loud cry from up in Justin's old bedroom. Excusing himself from the table, Brian made his way upstairs to rescue his son from the crib of pillows he'd been entrapped in. When he got to the door he was greeted with a teary-eyed grin from Gus who began to giggle and reach his hands towards his father.

"Dadda! Dadda!" Gus chirped, bouncing up and down on his bottom.

"Hey there, Sonnyboy," Brian grinned as he moved across the room to scoop the infant up off the bed. "Did you have a good nap?"

"Goo," Gus agreed, nodding his head solemnly as Brian hoisted him up into his arms.

Brian nuzzled his head into the crook of Gus' neck, inhaling the wonderful scent of baby powder and general baby scents. Newly awakened, Gus only put up with being held still for a few moments before he began fidgeting. Brian did a quick diaper check, relieved that it was only a wet diaper, and changed it before bringing Gus downstairs to join the others.

"Hi!" Gus called as they entered the kitchen. The infant had a huge grin on his face and waved at his family as Brian carried him over to the table. That smile only grew when he was greeted by everyone else at the table.

Ignoring the high chair that was pushed against the wall, Brian let Gus sit on his lap so that he could be more of a part of the action. The first thing Gus did was slam his hands into the plumb pudding that had been set down in front of Brian's place. While everyone laughed affectionately at the tot, Gus raised his hands and began to lick the mess from his fingers.

"We need to work on your table manners," Brian murmured in his son's ear.

Furrowing his tiny brows, Gus lifted a hand in Brian's direction, waiting expectantly for his father to share in the sticky mess. The infant cheered as his father's tongue began to tickle his palm. Brian was rewarded for his efforts by a gooey slap to his cheek, making him wince and Gus giggle loudly.

"Okay, time for you to torment someone else," Brian said as he handed the little boy off to Justin. "Go bug your dad, Sonnyboy."

Once he had his hands free, Brian reached for a napkin to clean his face off. Concentrating on cleaning his face, Brian failed to notice the shocked expressions on several of the faces that sat around the table until he reached for his glass of wine a minute or so later. He arched an eyebrow in a silent question then glanced over at Justin who seemed equally confused by the odd looks they were getting.

"What?"

Deb dabbed at her eyes with her napkin, her face breaking out in a huge smile. "My boy's growing up at last!"

"Ma!" Michael cried, outraged.

"Oh calm down, Michael," Deb admonished. "There's no need to be jealous. You're both my boys. Same with Sunshine, Emmett and Ted. And now two of my boys are all grown up and married and soon they'll be moving away...."

"Contain yourself, Deb. We went through this last spring," Brian reminded her, smirking towards the head of the table where she sat. "The only difference is that I'm stealing a certain blonde this time around."

"You're forgetting that I'm a willingly hostage," Justin grinned, bumping his shoulder against Brian's. The blonde was distracted immediately by Gus who began pounding on his cast. Thankfully the infant's hands had been cleaned or else the cast would have been smeared with the desert. "Careful, Gus. My arm's all ouchie under there. It's making sure my arm heals all nice and straight."

Gus merely stared up at Justin, having no idea what he was talking about.

"I hope they charged the guy who hit you," Mel spoke up, a slight growl in her voice.

Justin arched an eyebrow, an amused smirk pulling at the corners of his lips. "I'm the one who ran out in front of him, Mel. It's my own fault. I had a panic attack and wandered out into traffic. It happens."

There was a hell of a lot more to it than that, but Brian had no problem keeping their family in the dark as long as necessary. They didn't need to know the details of what had happened or how lucky Justin was that he hadn't ended up in the morgue. Brian still wasn't sure how that had happened. How Justin had taken on a Porsche and walked away with only a few scratches and a broken arm. He was grateful, though. He knew that he wouldn't have been able to live through losing Justin so soon after the bashing.

"Now can we please end this?" Justin demanded as he awkwardly handed Gus back to Brian. "I'm fine and in a few weeks Brian and I are moving to New York. Discussion won't change that so let's just switch to new topics."

There was a flustered reaction from Deb which lasted for a few moments before the waitress started asking the girls about their upcoming wedding. As far as Brian knew, the date was sometime around the middle of February that wasn't Valentine's Day. At least he hoped that wasn't the day the girls had chosen. It was far too sentimental and corny even for Lindsay and Mel was far too pragmatic and cynical to allow for that as a wedding anniversary. Whatever the date was, he and Justin would be there for the ceremony because his artist was definitely that sentimental.

And when they were finally allowed to retreat to the loft later that night, both of them were enjoying a light buzz from many glasses of egg nog. As was always the case when he'd ingested too much alcohol, Justin was happy and grinning. He was also very insistent.

"Do I get my Christmas present yet?" the blonde pouted, snuggling himself up against Brian's side as they made their way towards the bedroom. "I've been a very good boy all day and I deserve my Christmas present. Pretty please with a chocolate slicked fuck on top?"

"Well with an incentive like that..." Brian drawled, sweeping the blonde up and over his shoulder.

Justin squeaked at the sudden move, but didn't put up a fight. He merely slid his talented fingers beneath the hem of Brian's sweater to trace patterns over the warm skin at the small of his back. "I get my Christmas present. I get my Christmas present," Justin singsonged, his voice trailing off into a giggle.

Brian's immediate response was to dump his husband onto the bed where he landed with a bounce. Leaving Justin to sort himself out, Brian retraced his path out of the bedroom and jogged towards the desk where he'd hidden Justin's present. He could hear Justin shuffling around in the closet, undoubtedly attempting to extract that brightly wrapped box that had appeared sometime during his trip to New York. Justin's present was much smaller. Slender and rectangular, but he knew that Justin would love what was inside.

"Now I had to return your original present, but hopefully this one meets your approval," Brian said as he stepped up onto the bed. He stood, towering over Justin, before the teen latched onto his hand, tugging him down. "Careful, Sunshine."

Justin's eyes went wide and he crawled forward, kneeling up so that he was pressed chest to chest with Brian. "Sorry. I promise I'll be good."

"Promise?"

Justin nodded his head emphatically, a solemn expression on his face. That look lasted for only a few seconds before a huge grin split the blonde's face and he began giggling. Brian could only shake his head in response as he stretched out sideways on the bed, pulling Justin so that the blonde rested on top of him. In his other hand, he still held onto the slender present he'd purchased for his lover.

"Merry Christmas," Brian murmured as he waggled the present next to Justin's head.

Justin heaved himself into a seated position, reaching out to grab onto his gift. "Merry Christmas, Bri." He shook the package carefully, frowning when it made no sound. "What's in here?"

"You're going to have to open it," Brian smirked, folding his arms behind his head.

"I can open it?"

"You can open it."

Justin's grin was huge as he began to carefully tear away the brilliant crimson paper that the present was wrapped in. He didn't rip any of it as he unwrapped the wide, slender box contained within. It was about the size of a sheet of paper. Several sheets of paper.

"Brian, what is...?" Justin started, his eyes going wide when he read what was on those pieces of paper. Only the emotion in his eyes wasn't what Brian had been expecting. The blonde looked downright terrified. "You got me my own apartment? Do you.... Are we.... Did I do something wrong?"

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Brian demanded, reaching up to cup Justin's cheek.

"You bought me an apartment," Justin murmured, holding the deed out for Brian to see. "What else am I supposed to think?"

Rolling his eyes, Brian snatched the box out of Justin's hand and pulled out the envelope inside. "Take a look in here, Sunshine."

Nervously chewing on his bottom lip, Justin slowly opened the envelope and peered inside. Knowing what the younger man would find inside, Brian relaxed into the mattress, his hand that had been on Justin's cheek now resting on the blonde's hip. Justin cautiously peeked inside the envelope, his brows furrowing in confusion when he saw the photographs.

"Brian, is this...?" Once again Justin's eyes widened, a huge grin appearing on his face. "This is a studio, right? A studio for me? In New York?"

"Merry Christmas, Sunshine," Brian murmured, enjoying Justin's delight as he flipped through the stack of pictures that he had taken of the studio he'd purchased for Justin after receiving the job offer in New York.

Justin's smile was nearly blinding as he leaned forward, pressing his hands down on either side of Brian's head so that he could touch their foreheads together. "Merry Christmas, Brian."


	19. Anything of Nothing

Justin had been staring at the innocent looking video tape for nearly half an hour. He hadn't touched it since Daphne had set it down on the counter at the beginning of her visit and now that she had left, Justin was trying to work up the nerve to actually watch it. Daphne had volunteered to stay with him, but Justin had turned her down, wanting to do it on his own. The only person Justin wanted to watch it with was Brian and he knew that he wouldn't be able to convince the older man to watch the video.

Of course, Brian didn't need to watch the tape to know what was on it. He still remembered what had happened at the prom-- hadn't had his mind wiped clear by a bat to the head --and had no reason want to relive it. If anything, Brian often did his utmost to avoid thinking about the prom and the stressful weeks that followed. And while he still wasn't sure that Brian had been at the hospital at all after the first three days, he wanted to believe that his husband had been.

And if he did end up remembering anything as a result of the video, Justin wasn't sure that he'd even be able to tell Brian. It wasn't exactly something that could be brought up casually. The prom and what followed was a very serious topic and one that Brian did his utmost to avoid getting drawn into. Justin didn't blame him for it in the least. He had a few brief flashes of memory of what had happened in the parking garage, but for the most part, Brian was the only one with any type of memory of what had happened that night.

"Quit being such a twat," Justin grumbled to himself, snatching the tape off the counter.

Justin stalked towards the TV, his features set in grim determination. He wanted to watch it while he had the loft to himself so that he could be calm and rational about it by the time Brian got home. If he wasn't, Justin planned on hiding himself away in the storage room with the excuse that he was doing a last minute check to make sure that they wouldn't be leaving behind anything that was theirs next week.

The only problem was that it was something he'd already done and Brian knew it. Brian had gone through the storage area himself to make sure that they wouldn't be leaving anything behind.

Justin's confidence disappeared as soon as he was standing in front of the television. He stared at the VCR for several long minutes, willing himself to feed it the video tape in his hand to the machine in front of him.

"It's just a tape. It's not real," Justin said to himself. "Not anymore. It's just a harmless video of something that's already happened."

Even though he knew it was the truth, it was still several more minutes before he was able to actually stuff the copied tape into the VCR. Once it was in there, Justin retreated to the bedroom momentarily to grab one of Brian's sweatshirts. He picked one that Brian had worn recently and still carried his scent and at the moment it was as close as he could get to his husband while he watched what was undoubtedly one of the most important moments of their relationship.

Snuggling up in the worn black sweatshirt, Justin settled himself in one of the chairs in front of the TV. He set up everything and curled into a ball, making himself as small as possible.

Then he pressed PLAY.

_"Oh my god! Why would anyone want to dance to this cheesy old song?" Derek Mikals demanded from somewhere off camera._

_A pretty blonde dressed in a glittering silver gown bounced into the frame, a huge grin on her face. "Because it's romantic, you twit. Now put down that camera and dance with me!"_

_Over the Stephanie Dobson's shoulder there is a brief flash of motion and Derek quickly follows the motion with his camera. It takes a moment for things to come into focus and he winds around Stephanie to follow after the pair who are stalking towards the main part of the dance floor._

_"Derek! What are you doing?"_

_"Check it out, Steph."_

_Derek shoved his way through the crowd so that he was standing at the edge of the circle that formed around Brian and Justin as they began to sway to the music._

The dance that the teenager had captured on video was exactly like the one that had been described to him so many times. It was, without a doubt, the most romantic thing that had ever happened to him, remembered or not.

Even before the scene had ended, Justin had flashes of the dance appearing behind his eyes. This time they were from his point of view. His lover was smiling down at him, laughing at something Justin couldn't remember saying.

_"I didn't know that you could dance like this," Justin giggled, squeezing his fingers around Brian's shoulder._

_"There's a lot you still don't know, Sunshine."_

_"Am I going to get a chance to find out?"_

Justin didn't even realize that the tape had ended right away. When he finally jerked back to consciousness he was staring at a blue screen. Justin continued to stare at it, not fully comprehending what he was seeing. His entire body shuddered as he struggled to make sense of what he had seen. There was n doubt in his mind that it was real. It had been him and Brian dancing under that blue spotlight and they had looked so beautiful. 

So in love.

He'd heard it described many times, but to finally see it startled him. For the first time ever it was real. Justin could actually see their infamous dance, both on the screen and in his mind. Justin was now starting to wish that he'd waited for Brian to come home before watching it. Not that he would have been able to convince him to view it, but just so that he would be seek comfort from his husband afterwards. Comfort that he was sorely in need of then.

Justin sat trembling in the chair, his body drawn up into a tight ball as his mind scattered jigsaw images about in his brain. None of them came in any sort of logical order. Pieces of conversation were split, images piled one on top of the other and brief flashes of a blue light disoriented him. He was desperate for it to make any kind of sense, but his mind seemed unable to properly mesh his own fractured memories to the images captured on celluloid over six months before.

"Justin?"

The sound of his name snapped Justin out of his daze. His body started at the interruption, so violently that he almost toppled from the chair. As it was, the remote control clattered loudly onto the hardwood floor beside him, the sound deafening in the otherwise silent loft. His name was called a second time and Justin carefully unfolded himself from the white furniture and turned his wide eyes onto his husband.

"Brian."

The man in question nodded his head, setting his briefcase and coat down on the floor as he slowly crossed the room. "Yeah. It's me. Are you feeling all right?"

Sucking in a deep breath, Justin pulled his lips over his teeth momentarily. "Um... I'm not sure. I just...."

By this time Brian had reached him and he sunk gratefully into the other man's arms. He leaned against Brian, doing his utmost to still the frantic images that were flitting through his mind.

"You're starting to scare me, Sunshine," Brian murmured in his ear, his fingers snaking up into his hair. "What happened?"

"Daphne, um.... She gave me a video of our dance," Justin said quietly, not needing to explain just what dance it had been. "She managed to track down a copy of it that someone in our class happened to film and brought it over today."

Brian squeezed him tighter, pressing a kiss to the side of his head. "You should have waited for me. I would have watched it with you."

Justin squeezed his eyes shut tight, clutching at the back of Brian's shirt with his right hand, his left hand awkwardly gripping his shoulder. "I thought I would be okay."

"Brat," Brian said affectionately.

The older man continued to hold him for a few moments longer before he pulled back to latch onto Justin's uncasted hand. He'd expected Brian to lead him towards the bedroom or the bathroom beyond, but instead he was pulled towards Brian's desk where the stereo system was located. Brian released him just before they reached the desk and began to flip through his stack of burned CDs. It took him a minute to find the one he wanted and he set it up, turning back to Justin with a smile, a hand outstretched towards him.

_Mmmmyyyyyyy gift is my song.... And this one's for you....._

Justin smirked as the first strains of the Moulin Rouge version of the Elton John classic and slowly made his way towards his husband, linking their hands together. The taller man pulled him close, winding an arm around his shoulders while their joined hands were pressed between their bodies.

"You are such a freak," Justin laughed, tilting his head back so that he was able to meet Brian's eyes.

"I was going for ridiculously romantic," Brian whispered, his voice very solemn. 

The words tickled at the back of Justin's memory and even though he knew that he should remember them, he couldn't quite place them.

_And you can tell everybody, this is your song._  
It may be quite simple, but now that it's done  
I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind,  
That I put down in words, how wonderful life is  
Now you're in the world. 

This dance was nowhere near as dramatic as the one Justin had recently watched, but instead the pair simply swayed together in the vast open space in the center of the loft. There were a few occasional twists and spins, but their bodies never lost contact.

_I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss_  
And some of the verses well they got me quite cross  
But the sun's been quite kind while I wrote this song  
It's for people like you that keep it turned on. 

_So excuse me forgetting, but these things I do_  
You see I've forgotten if they're green or they're blue  
Anyway, the thing is, what I really mean  
Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen 

"I really hope that you don't forget this one," Brian murmured as that song faded into the next one on the soundtrack.

Slipping his left hand up, Justin lightly cupped the back of Brian's head, being careful not to whack the other man with his cast. "I promise that I won't."

Brian nodded his head, sucking his lips into his mouth. "I'm going to hold you to that."

The pair remained locked together in the center of the loft for a few more minutes, swaying slightly as they kissed one another lightly. Justin took great joy in their close proximity, nuzzling his nose against Brian's and stroking his fingers along his lover's throat. He hadn't even been aware that they were moving until he felt his legs come into contact with the side of the couch. Justin startled slightly then leaned back, allowing gravity to pull him over the arm of the couch and down onto the cushions. Brian let out a protesting moan at the loss and willing followed Justin, crawling over the arm of the couch as the blonde scooted backwards. Brian was a too long and had to bend his knees upwards so that he could fit on the couch comfortably.

"How come you waited so long to let me see just how romantic you are?" Justin asked as he idly played with Brian's hair. "I mean, I knew that I meant something to you, but for eight months you treated me like I was nothing most of the time. But that dance...."

Brian leaned down, gently covering Justin's mouth with his own. Justin leaned up into the kiss, reaching up to cup Brian's cheeks and hold his lover steady. Justin's head tilted back as Brian began to suck on his lower lip, moaning loudly. He could feel Brian grinning against his lips at that and couldn't contain a smile of his own.

As another stray image flitted through his mind, this time of the events in the parking garage, Justin stiffened. He could feel Brian start to pull away and masqueraded his brief panic by silently motioning for Brian to trade places with him. Justin wanted to be the one in control.

"You okay?" Brian's voice was full of concern as he reached up to stroke Justin's cheek.

Pursing his lips, Justin nodded his head. "Yeah. I'm fine. Don't worry." With that, Justin curved his back so that he was able to touch his lips to Brian's.

While he was still kissing his lover, Justin reached between their bodies so that he could loosen Brian's tie. Once he had the shorter end free from the knot, he pulled it slowly from around Brian's neck, drawing the motion out. Then he attacked the buttons, following the trail of newly exposed skin with his lips as far down as possible. When he couldn't bend any further, he retraced his earlier path, making slight detours to lave dark nipples and tease them into hard peaks.

Then Brian's hands were gripping the sides of his face, guiding him back up so that they were at eye level. The smile on Brian's face was brilliant, one of the full ones that rarely graced Brian's face. Justin kissed the grinning lips briefly before turning his attention between the cushions of the couch in search of the tube of lube that was stored there for just such occurrences. He could feel the heat of Brian's cock through the material that separated them and was desperate to have that hard length within him.

Once his fingers brushed across the plastic tube, Justin extracted it from the couch and tossed it onto Brian's stomach so that he could rid himself of his own shirt, or rather, Brian's shirt which he was wearing. Not wanting to get off the couch to divest himself of his jeans, the blonde stood up on the cushions, his feet resting on either side of Brian's hips as he began to shimmy out of the pants, lifting his feet only when it was necessary to remove them. The blonde made quick work stripping Brian of his pants, pulling his legs up so that Brian's feet rested against his chest. Justin was very dramatic about the act, tugging on the cuffs and raising his hands high above his head in the process and tossing them away despite his husband's outraged cry at the lack of care he was showing them. When Justin only continued to giggle, Brian jabbed him in the stomach with his heels before lowering them back down and slipping them between Justin's spread legs.

Before Justin could lower himself back into a kneeling position, Brian latched onto the backs of his calves, silently calling halt to any movement. Justin was about to ask Brian what he was doing when the older man surged into a seated position, his lips moving to brush across the tip of Justin's penis as his hands came up to touch the small of his back.. He made no move to take the shaft into his mouth, but contented himself with fondling the mushroom shaped end with his lips, teeth and tongue until Justin felt himself trembling all over.

"Brian...." Justin moaned, his hips jerking slightly from not being able to thrust forward. 

"Easy, Sunshine," Brian said against the stiff flesh, his warm breath causing Justin to tremble further.

Finally seeming to take pity on him, Brian slid his lips down the shaft, his tongue teasing the large vein that ran on the underside. However that wasn't what Justin wanted. He wanted to feel Brian deep within him, wanted to feel that wonderful stretch and know that there was nothing separating him and Brian. So he regretfully pulled himself away from the haven that was Brian's mouth and slipped down to his knees so that he was enfolded in Brian's arms.

"I love you," Justin murmured as he lifted a hand to cup Brian's cheek. His other hand was fumbling for the tube of lube that had been displaced when Brian sat up. The task was made that much more difficult when Brian pulled him into a very demanding kiss, his lips ravishing Justin's before moving on to the side of his jaw while Justin continued to grasp for the lube.

When he finally did manage to latch onto the small tube, Justin flicked the tube open with his thumb while he brought his other hand away from Brian's cheek so that he could squeeze some of the gel into his palm. He hadn't thought that Brian was aware that he'd gotten hold of the lube until the older man snatched it from his hands. Justin was going to protest until felt a slick finger at his hole, pressing forward.

The spouses worked together to prepare each other and Justin sighed when the three fingers in him were replaced by thick head of Brian's cock. Justin moaned as he slowly lowered himself down onto Brian's lap. The brunette held onto his hips, keeping him still for a few moments. Since there was no lube on his casted hand, Justin lifted that and brushed his fingers over his cheek.

After a few moments, Brian began to thrust his hips gently and Justin moved in counterpoint, using his knees as leverage. Their lovemaking was very relaxed, kissing each other lightly as they moved in concert. Brian slid his hands up into Justin's hair, massaging his scalp with deft fingers and Justin leaned into that touch. Shifting his hips slightly, Justin cried out as Brian's cock hit that pleasurable nub deep within him.

"Ahh!" the blonde cried out, his eyes going wide when his prostate was stimulated a second time.

"So beautiful," Brian moaned, leaning forward to nuzzle his nose against Justin's. 

Justin could only groan and clutch at Brian's upper arm with his good hand. He was nearly lost when Brian's long fingers wound around his aching cock, pumping in time with their languid thrusts. From there things began to speed up. Justin could feel the tension building deep in the pit of his stomach as he thrust back on Brian's dick and forward into his fist. The motions started off steady, but soon Justin began to pick up speed, drawing them out so that before long he and Brian were both teetering on the edge.

For as long as he could, Justin tried to put it off, not wanting it to end. It was inevitable, though, and Justin came with a cry, the sound lost in the recesses of Brian's mouth. A few moments later there was a warm gush of fluid inside of him and Brian returned his shout, gasping against his lips.

Brian slumped backwards then, taking Justin with him so that they were stretched out on the couch. Brian's hands were running lazily along his back, his cheek brushing against Justin's damp hair.

"You were so beautiful that night," Brian sighed once his breathing had slowed. "I swear you were glowing. And I was so fucking terrified, but then you smiled and... and I just walked towards you. I was drawn to you, just like I have been since that first day I met you. That's why I spent every night in that hospital, watching over you. I couldn't leave you alone in there because I was terrified that something would happen to you if I wasn't there to keep you safe...."

"So I didn't dream seeing you there," Justin mumbled, turning his face into Brian's chest before lifting his head up to meet his lover's droopy-eyed gaze. "You were really there. Why didn't you ever say anything?"

Brian shifted slightly, winding his arms around Justin's torso and holding onto him tightly. "I couldn't. It was just easier to forget because I was the only one of us who remembered it."

"But now you're not," Justin pointed out.

There was a moment of silence and then Brian sighed deeply. "Now I'm not."


	20. Anything of Nothing

He was living in New York.

Finally, after years of struggling to make a name for himself in the business world, Brian had finally achieved one of his ultimate goals. He was working at one of the most prestigious advertising firms in New York and within a few years he'd be able to buy into the partnership. Once that happened Brian would have achieved every one of the goals that he'd set for himself before he'd graduated from Penn State.

"Bri, where do you want this painting to go?"

The thing that still caught him the most off guard was Justin. The young artist had never figured into any of his plans. Two years ago he wouldn't have even been an idle thought. Two years ago Brian had planned on living his life alone, the spare time filled with the odd trick to keep him company and get him off.

"Hey! Tall, dark and brooding! Are you even paying attention to me?"

Brian glared at Justin who was standing between of the massive windows in their new loft. The blonde was arching a pale eyebrow and in front of him he was holding a painting he'd done of two sleep rumpled figures cast in a bluish glow. The neon tubing had been left behind in Pittsburgh and replaced in New York with a wide, single expanse of orange florescent lighting. The new lighting made Justin look absolutely glorious. Like there was a fire glowing over every inch of his skin.

"On the wall next to Gus' room," Brian said, nodding his head over Justin's shoulder. "That wall's too empty."

Having given his opinion, Brian wandered over to the kitchen while Justin made the final decision. Since this loft was their home and Justin was the artist of their duo, Brian let the blonde make most of the decisions when it came to placing the furniture in the loft. He did, of course, have a veto power, but so far he hadn't put it to much use beyond arguing over where a lamp should be placed.

"What do you want for dinner?" Brian called as he began rummaging through the fridge in search of ingredients.

"What do we have?"

Snorting, Brian took a step back so that he could shut the door. "Not much. Looks like it's take-out until we can get to the market."

Take-out had been a much easier thing back in Pittsburgh. Brian had known all of the best places in the city and had ordered from them enough that his food peculiarities were known to the owners and heeded. Brian didn't even have any take-out menus yet which meant giving in to Justin's desire for pizza. It was either that or McDonalds and Brian had no desire to consume quite that much grease in one sitting.

"I'll order the pizza," Justin volunteered, knowing just as Brian did that any other take-out options were available. "You find the hammer and nails for the painting. But don't put it up yet, I'm not sure where I want it to go yet."

Brian rolled his eyes but did as requested. It had been a week since they'd moved to New York and the pair was still trying to get everything unpacked and the way they wanted it. It was a much more difficult task because the layout of the two lofts was very different. 

The loft in Pittsburgh had been entirely open concept with the bedroom on its raised platform as the shining glory. 

In New York, not only was the loft bigger, but it had a few extra features such as a bedroom for Gus that had an adjoining bathroom that wouldn't be of much use to the tot until after he was potty trained. On the opposite side of the loft was a wide staircase without any rails. That staircase led up to a massive master bedroom with three walls, the fourth left open to survey the rest of their home. To offer them a bit of privacy in case there were visitors, Brian had made arrangements with some contractors to set up a glass partition system identical to the one he'd had back in Pittsburgh. There was a second bathroom on the upper level, one that not only had a large walk in shower, but a jacuzzi tub built under a large window made of frosted glass.

"The pizza will be here in about forty minutes," Justin announced as Brian headed back towards the kitchen with a hammer and small box of nails in his hands. As soon as he was close enough, Justin snatched the tools from him and all but pranced to the bare wall. "Come on, I need you to hold the picture up so I can see where I want it."

"You do realize that I'm your husband, not your manservant?" Brian asked rhetorically as he hefted up the 30x25 unframed canvas.

Justin flashed him a broad grin, nodding his head. "I know. Now hold it up there."

Over the next forty minutes, while they waited for the pizza, Justin had Brian hold the painting up in at least a dozen different positions. Each time it was positioned, Justin would bolt to the other side of the loft and up to the small landing halfway up the staircase where the steps turned towards the second level from its earlier parallel position. He would take an all encompassing view of it then shake his head and run back over to where Brian stood to figure out a new position for the painting.

Brian sighed with relief when he heard the buzzer. "Thank god," Brian groaned while he carefully propped the painting up against the wall. "You're more anal than I ever gave you credit for, Sunshine."

He briefly caught a glimpse of Justin sticking his tongue out at him as he turned towards the kitchen where he'd left his wallet. Chuckling to himself, Brian buzzed the delivery man into the building. If he was certain of one thing, it was that life with Justin was far from boring. The other man wasn't even out of his teens and Brian always felt evenly matched when he was with the blonde. Justin could easily outmatch anyone from the gang back in Pittsburgh intellectually.

Paying the delivery guy quickly, Brian turned around only to have the box snatched from his hands by a hungry teenager. "There'd better be some left for me," Brian called over his shoulder as he went to shut the door.

Even after a week, Brian was still having a hard time remembering not to try and slide the door shut. It was pretty impossible to do that to a heavy wooden door that rose up two feet higher than him. He knew that the ornately carved door was Justin's feature of the loft. On the outside it was just a plain door with the usual four carved rectangles. The inside was completely different matter. On the inside there was a huge, twisting tree carved into the wood. Twisting gnarled branches arching away from a thick, knotted trunk. The tree was entirely bare save for a few leaves scattered amongst the various branches. Brian didn't know the reason behind the carving on the back of the door, but it did add to the overall appeal of the loft.

Brian immediately turned towards the kitchen area and was a little surprised to see that the table was empty. Scanning around slightly he found Justin. The blonde was sitting on the floor in the open area of the loft.

"Why are you sitting on the floor?" Brian asked as he crossed over to where Justin was. "We have a perfectly good table not too far away."

"But I wanted to have a picnic," Justin pouted, reaching a hand in Brian's direction. "Please. Indulge your husband."

Snorting, Brian allowed his fingers to slide through Justin's, squeezing as he was pulled down next to the artist. He then went for a dramatic flare which would have normally been Justin's and sprawled himself out on the ground, his head pillowed on the younger man's lap.

"You're not going to distract me," Justin grinned, leaning over so that his nose was only a few inches away from Brian's. "Now is time for food, not sex."

"I thought I cured you of that naive streak of yours," Brian smirked, poking the pizza box away from them slightly.

"I've been unpacking all day, I want food," Justin insisted while reaching forward for the box that Brian's longer arms were attempting to keep out of his reach. "I promise I'll fuck you into the mattress later, just let me have my pizza now."

Moving quickly, Brian rolled himself over and pounced on Justin before his partner had a chance to latch onto his edible treasure. Even though he had been denied his pizza, Justin was giggling madly as he reached his hands up to cup Brian's face.

"You're completely insane," the artist laughed, leaning up for a quick kiss. "And you're letting dinner get cold."

"I'm thinking that I want to get to the fucking right now. Work up an appetite," Brian insisted, using his foot to nudge the pizza box out of the way.

Justin attempted to pout, but it was lost as he slipped into yet another round of giggles. These ones were silenced as Brian leaned forward and smothered Justin's lips with his own. Brian swiveled his body around so that he was covering Justin's, grinding his hips against the blonde's. He knew that he had the artist thoroughly distracted when Justin's hips wrapped around his waist.

"But I'm hungry," Justin whined as Brian began to nibble at the corner of his jaw.

"So am I, Sunshine."

With a dramatic sigh, Justin flung his arms out to his sides. "Fine. Do with me what you will."

Which was exactly what Brian did. In almost no time at all he had Justin stripped out of his sweats and t-shirt. Brian reared back so that he was sitting on his heels, Justin's legs draped over his thighs. From his vantage point he could survey his husband's entire body. It was a glorious sight too. Flawless alabaster skin smattered with just the right amount of almost invisible blonde hair covering well toned muscles. Fluttering lids that threatened to shield brilliant blue eyes from his view. Pouting lips. A concave, fluttering stomach with a trail of darker blonde hair leading down to the springy mass of curls surrounding Justin's luscious cock.

"Bri...." Justin moaned, arching his hips upwards. "If you insist on stalling my dinner you need to get the show on the road."

Brian startled himself with the burst of laughter that escaped his lips. He shook his head slightly, his mouth opening in a grin as he leaned forward once again in order to search out Justin's lips. "You are one demanding little twink," Brian chuckled, leaning his forehead against Justin's as he pulled back from the lingering kiss.

"I'm not a twink," Justin mumbled pathetically as he wound his arms around Brian's shoulders, pulling the taller man down flush against him. "I'm married. Married men can't be twinks."

"Is that so?"

Justin nodded his head and held Brian tighter against him. "Yep. It's in the rulebooks."

Anything else that Justin would have said was lost as Brian captured Justin's lips with his own. He ravaged the blonde's mouth, holding himself up slightly on his left forearm while the fingers of his right hand flittered across Justin's side. He continued to move his hand downward, cupping Justin's ass as he ground their groins together. The only problem with the situation was that Brian was still in his jeans and he couldn't feel Justin's dick against his own flesh.

The two of them continued to grind against each other as Brian's lips trailed down to Justin's jaw. "God, I love you," Brian groaned against Justin's throat.

Justin sighed contentedly, his fingers gripping Brian's hair. "I'll never get tired of hearing that. I love you so much, Bri. But I really think you're wearing too many clothes." Even before he was finished speaking, Justin's hands were sneaking under the hem of his wifebeater, attempting to slide it up his torso. "You need to be naked."

Being in full agreement with Justin's, Brian allowed the blonde to strip him out of his clothes. In a matter of minutes, Brian was stretched out on his back, naked, with the lips of a very energetic blonde wrapped around his cock. Brian instinctively arched his hips upwards, his voice coming out in an unintelligible groan when Justin's fingertips sneaked between his cheeks, fondling his opening. The groan turned into a moan when the digit slipped passed the outer ring of muscle and into his hole.

"Fuck!" Brian cried as Justin's fingertip brushed against his prostate. Then a second finger was added. "Oh God, Jus...."

It didn't take long for Justin to turn him into a quivering pile of flesh. His entire body was trembling as he fumbled for purchase on the hardwood floor.

"Come on, Brian.... Come for me," Justin said, his lips brushing against the tip of Brian's cock.

Brian was a whole mass of nerves, every inch of his skin tingling as Justin engulfed him completely. The suction was intense and as Justin's tongue beat a tattoo against the underside of his cock. Brian's entire body stiffened, a mangled cry escaping his lips as he climaxed. His entire body was shuddering as he collapsed in a boneless heap.

Justin crawled up Brian's body, stretching out over top of him with a contented sigh. "That was a very nice appetizer, but I'm ready for my main course now."

For a moment Brian had thought Justin was going to make a dive for the pizza, but instead he crawled over to the ornate wooden box set next to the couch that had a tube of lube in it. Brian raised himself up on his elbows, arching an eyebrow in the blonde's direction as Brian shuffled back towards him on his knees.

"What about your pizza?" Brian teased, allowing his thighs to fall open as Justin moved between his legs.

"We have a microwave."

It was close to an hour before they finally got to the actual food. By then they had both worked up quite an appetite and devoured the entire pizza while they watched Trainspotting. They didn't bother getting dressed, but instead wrapped themselves up in the duvet that Justin pilfered from the bedroom while Brian reheated the pizza.

For the rest of the night, the two of them relaxed in front of the TV, unwinding for a day of unpacking. The next day was Brian's first official day at Kennedy & Collins. He was finally going to be playing with the big boys. And while Brian was excited that he was finally going to get the chance to prove himself as he should have been allowed years before, he was also nervous. Not that he'd leak that bit of information to anyone. Not even Justin.

Brian was brought out of his musings almost immediately by Justin who had dozed off against his side. Turning his attention away from the television, Brian glanced down at his young cohort. The pair had made quite an impression when they'd left Pittsburgh. They're farewell party at Babylon was the stuff of legends. After all, it wasn't every day that it said goodbye to its reigning kings. They'd bid farewell in royal fashion too. Dancing until the wee hours of the morning, fucking periodically in the backroom. On their third foray into the dim corridors at the back of the club, Justin had discovered a plaque hung in one of their favourite secluded corners.

_The Kings of Babylon  
Brian Kinney and Justin Taylor  
last fucked here January 7, 2002_

Brian wasn't sure whether he should feel honoured or not by the plaque, but it definitely amused him to no end.

He didn't even want to know how the owners of the club had discovered their departure date, but it amused Brian to no end. He'd even smeared some of Justin's cum on the plaque for posterity and because it had seemed like a good idea at the time while he was being spurred on by the blonde's drunken giggles.

It had been nearly dawn when they'd tumbled out of the club and taken a taxi back to the loft. 

Eight hours later the two of them were in an airport getting ready to board a plane to New York. Brian had been foolish enough to hope that they'd be able to get away without incident. However, between Jennifer, Deb and Emmett there was a great deal of blubbering and scene making. Even Justin had gotten teary-eyed, but Brian understood that. Justin was still young and after everything he'd been through in the past year, Brian could fully understand his hesitance to leave home on a permanent basis. The kid would be leaving his support system behind. And while Brian was used to functioning on his own, Justin was not.

When the movie ended, Brian carefully scooped the sleeping man up his arms, not wanting to wake him up. He let the credits roll because the remote was far out of his reach and he would rather wait until he got the blonde tucked into bed before shutting down everything for the night.

"Whaz goin' on?" Justin mumbled as Brian began to climb the stairs.

"We're going to bed," Brian murmured, tipping his head forward to brush a kiss against his husband's forehead. "The movie apparently bored you to sleep."

Justin flushed slightly and snuggled closer to Brian. "Sorry. Didn't mean to."

"Don't worry about it, Sunshine. We can have more fun in bed," Brian assured him, adjusting his hold on the blonde so that he wouldn't accidentally drop him.

The sleepy giggle the words garnered from Justin brought a smirk to Brian's lips. He knew that if they'd already been in the bedroom, or on some other flat surface, Justin would have been stretching like a cat. The younger man was incredibly tactile and adored having hands run over every inch of his skin. Arching into the featherlight touch of Brian's fingertips, moaning and purring, was a state that the ad man enjoyed bringing his lover to that state.

Knowing that Justin was most likely expecting to be set down carefully on the bed, Brian more or less tossed him down onto their new bed. Far more extravagant than the one in Pittsburgh that was little more than a mattress on a platform, this new bed was a four poster monstrosity of carved wood. The sturdy columns that stood prominently at each corner of the bed would definitely be very beneficial once the cast was removed and Brian could properly bind the younger man spread eagle to the bed.

Justin bounced as he landed on the bed, his breath leaving his body with an audible "oomph!" The fact that the other man was still naked had Brian instantly distracted from his earlier plan to return to the main floor and turn off the entertainment center. Instead Brian crawled onto the bed, stretching himself out overtop of Justin.

"You're so warm," Justin moaned as he wound his arms around Brian's shoulders, his legs coming up to cradle Brian's hips. "It's like you're a living furnace or something."

Brian chuckled softly, nuzzling his nose against Justin's. "You're pretty warm there yourself, Sunshine."

Justin shook his head, sighing contentedly. "Not as warm as you. I could lie here all night, just like this. Some blankets would be nice, though, 'cause my toes are getting cold."

"What about my ass?" Brian questioned, quirking an eyebrow slightly.

Justin's response was to cross his ankles over ass. He also repositioned his arms so that they encompassed more of Brian's back. Brian was content with the position, but it grated on the back of his mind, knowing that the television was still on. 

"You're gonna have to let me go. The TV's still on," Brian murmured as he attempted to lift his torso from Justin's.

"Don't care about the TV," Justin protested, tightening his hold on Brian in a non-verbal protest. "I want you to stay right here. Unless, of course, you plan on ravaging me."

"'Ravage' you?" Brian snorted, the smirk once again returning to his lips. "You haven't been reading any of those romance novels Emmett gave you, have you?"

Justin's eyes darted away, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "Possibly.... Does that mean you're going to punish me?"

"No, it means I'm going to go turn off the TV."

The words surprised Justin enough so that Brian was able to slip out of his hold. He was halfway to the staircase before Justin let out a protesting squeak. Realizing that the unmanly sound had come out of his mouth, the blonde growled in outrage much to Brian's amusement. 

"Tease!" Justin shouted after him which only made Brian laugh harder.

Brian made quick work of shutting off everything and making sure that the alarm was set before returning to the bedroom. The sight that greeted made his groin tightened. Justin was stretched out on the dark duvet, absently stroking his erection, sleepy eyes locked on him. Brian shivered slightly and had to forcibly command his limbs to move and carry him towards the bed where his husband was doing a very good job of seducing him.

As soon as he reached the side of the bed, Brian reached over and gently extracted Justin's hand from his cock. He tenderly turned the weaker limb over in his hands, massaging the palm as he stretched out next to Justin.

"Promise me I won't get any frantic interruptions from Cynthia tomorrow because you've managed to get yourself into trouble," Brian pleaded, his eyes locking on Justin's as he spoke.

Justin grinned, reaching across his body with his injured arm so that he could stroke his fingertips against Brian's cheek. "Okay."

"Good. I want you safe. I want you around for a long time," Brian murmured as he turned his head to kiss the fluttering fingertips.

"Then that's what you'll get," Justin whispered, the sheer magnitude of his smile increasing. "Now will you please fuck me already? I've been nice and patient while you went about your anal retentive routine, but as your husband I'm demanding your attention."

Justin squeaked a second time as Brian pounced on him, pressing his grinning lips to Justin's as he stretched himself full length over his lover.

"You have my full attention."


End file.
